Contradicting Destiny: Reading The Last Olympian
by Sadie Breezy-O'Shea
Summary: Reyna & Percy's friendship dates back to their childhood, which makes Annabeth envious. Nico trusts Percy with his dark secrets, oh, & Jason is jealous of Leo, whom is giving Piper the silent treatment & vice versa. Also, who was brought back from the dead, and who was made immortal? A different take in the Olympians' persona, perverted commentary, and memories unlocked.
1. Chapter 1

Check my profile to see my updating schedule for this story along with others. Thanks for waiting patiently. xoxo~

**Disclaimer: Don't own PJO or HoO. Am not Rick Riordan. If I was, there would be more Nico/Percy moments... **

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The dining hall was packed with the demigods of camp Half-Blood. The wind blew through the camp and caressed the half-bloods' skin making many of them smile. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, was sitting with her siblings playing with her food and not talk to anyone. It had became a daily routine ever since her boyfriend, Percy Jackson had disappeared.

Annabeth lifted her head up and looked around the mess hall, her eyes landing at the Zeus table where Jason Grace was sitting at. He was alone, since Thalia was with the Hunters of Artemis at their table.

Jason Grace.

When he first arrived at camp, Annabeth couldn't help but hate the Roman. He was a living reminder that Percy was in the other side of the country, at the Roman camp, with no memories. Not of his family, friends... or her. The thought made Annabeth depressed. What if he had another girlfriend? Nah, it took Percy three years to realize that Annabeth liked him and another year to finally ask her out.

Annabeth sighed and closed her eyes. She had nothing to worry about, the Argo II was almost finished and they would be sailing to Camp Jupiter in three days. She'll see her Seaweed Brain soon. She leaned her head on her right palm, with her eyes closed, relaxing and taking in the fresh air of camp Half-Blood.

She heard a groan next to her and her eyes flew open. There, in a pile, were her friends, all laying on top of each other like stacks of hay. Annabeth was standing up, leaning her elbow on mid-air.

She took in her surroundings and gasped. They were in Olympus, _before _the war.

"Who are you?" Hermes asked curiously. Annabeth raised and eyebrow but introduced herself, along with her fellow campers.

"Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena."

Athena gasped, "B-But you're only seven!"

Annabeth put her finger to her chin and furrowed her eyebrows thinking hard. She snapped her fingers and said, "We're obviously traveled back in time, we-" she gestured to the half-bloods, "-are from the year 2011,"

Athena nodded, it made perfect sense.

"Katie Gardner, daughter of Demeter," said goddess smiled at her daughter kindly.

"Travis and Connor Stoll, sons of Hermes," the trickster god smiled at them and gave them a thumbs up.

"Clarisse La Rue, daughter of Ares,"

"Will Solace, son of Apollo," he smiled up to his dad, Apollo returned the smile.

"Chris Rodriguez, son of Hermes," Ares glared at Chris, "Don't touch my daughter," he growled, eyeing Chris's arm that was resting on her waist. Chris nodded hurriedly and released his arm away from Clarisse and looked down. Clarisse rolled her eyes at her father, but said nothing.

"Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus," a Latino boy with elfish features stepped up and grinned at his father, while fiddling with some wires and an iPhone. Hephaestus, catching this, beamed proudly at his son.

"Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite," the goddess winked at Piper.

"Jason Grace, son of Jupiter,"

Hera glared at Jason and Zeus, making both of them cower back in fear.

Poseidon coughed awkwardly, "And you yelled at me for having a son, when you had a daughter _and _a son. From the same woman, might I add,"

Zeus glared at his older brother, while Poseidon just smirked at him.

A note appeared in thin air and landed on Annabeth's palm.

_"Dear Olympians and demigods,_

_The Fates and I have decided to have you read Percy Jackson's myth, one of the most favored and important heroes in history. He has five books writen about him, and you will read the fifth one, which is from his point of view, so you can see what he did during the war. Please summon Hestia and Hades._

Hestia and Hades appeared in temporary thrones and looked around confused. Annabeth started reading the note over again. Hestia and Hades nodded and motioned for her to read the rest.

_Don't try to change the future or you will suffer the wrath of the Fates. No hurting the half-bloods. Some other people will be coming in, in future chapters. Enjoy!_

_P.S. Percy Jackson is Poseidon's son. _

Zeus looked like he was about to yell, but Annabeth continued, with an amused tone, while she read the next line.

_Before you start ranting Zeus, you broke the oath twice."_

Zeus looked offended at this, while the rest of the Olympians laughed, except Hera, who was fuming.

_"Apollo & the Three Fates."_

As soon as Annabeth spoke the last word, the note turned into ashes and the vaporized and was swept by the wind. A book appeared in its place.

The book cover was black and a sickly green. It had a picture of a majestic, black pegasus, with a boy riding on its back, passing the Empire State Building. The boy had raven black hair and on his hand, was a long, celestial broze sword.

"The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan, who's Rick Riordan?" Read and asked Annabeth.

"He is the scribe for the Muses," Athena answered, and Annabeth nodded, satisfied with the answer.

She cleared her throat and opened the book to the first chapter.

"**I Go Cruising With Explosives**," Annabeth read, loud and clear, her voice carrying out all through out the Throne Room.

**The end of the world started when a Pegasus landed on the hood of my car.**

Zeus shook his head, "so dramatic,"

Poseidon rolled his eyes.

**Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically, I wasn't supposed to be driving because I wouldn't turn sixteen for another week, but my mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me **

Annabeth's eyes narrowed. He was with _her. _

Annabeth practically spat out her name.

**to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore, and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin.**

**Now I know what you're thinking, **_**wow, that was really irresponsible of him, blah, blah, blah, **_**but Paul knows me pretty well. He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding school buildings, so he figured taking a car a few hundred yards wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I've ever done.**

Leo stared at the book in awe.

Travis smirked, "I think so far, he's blown up... what? Eight schools?"

Connor nodded and gave the book a thumbs up. Hermes grinned, "I approve, Uncle P."

**Anyway, Rachel and I were driving along. It was a hot August day. Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered jeans before, and she looked like a million golden drachmas.**

Annabeth's voice was filled with venom, while Athena watched her daughter carefully. Looks like her daughter had a little crush on the sea spawn and was jealous. Athena resisted the urge to go find the half-blood and vaporize him on the spot.

"**Oh, pull up right there!" she told me.**

**We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. The sea is always one of my favorite places, but today it was especially nice – glittery green and smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm just for us.**

**My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.**

The demigods rolled their eyes.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," muttered Clarisse.

"**So." Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."**

"**Oh… right." I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd asked me to her family's vacation house on the St. Thomas for three days. **

"He really did need a vacation," Katie said worriedly. She was concerned for her friend, even though the events of the book had already happened. Annabeth nodded, agreeing with Katie, then continued reading.

**I didn't get a lot of offers like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were willing to let me tag along to the Caribbean.**

**Besides, I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting. **

The demigods frowned. Percy really did need a vaction, badly. With all of the pressure of saving the world.

**Still, something really big was supposed to go down any day now. I was "on call" for a mission. Even worse, next week was my birthday. There was this prophecy that said that when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.**

Jason stared at the book curiously. He wanted to hear the prophecy badly.

"**Percy," she said, "I know the timing is bad. But it's **_**always**_** bad for you, right?"**

**She had a point.**

"**I really want to go," I promised. "It's just–"**

"**The war?"**

"She sounds so desperate, the way she says it," Leo said, grinning.

"At the time, Percy and Rachel had a thing going on." Chris told Leo, "But then Rachel became the Oracle and sort of dumped Percy,"

Piper raised an eyebrown, "Sort of?"

"Percy told me that Rachel thought they were like dating or something, even though he never asked her out, so when Rachel became the Oracle, she dumped him... and Percy was all like, 'we weren't even going out in the first place...' well, that's what he told me," Will said, smiling.

"Well that's lame," Leo said, shaking his head, laughing. The gods and demigods nodded in agreement.

**I nodded. I didn't like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the mist – the magic veil that distorts human vision. She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. She'd even been there last summer when the chopped-up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earned my permanent respect by nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush.**

"She earned my respect too," Leo said, while Jason agreed silently.

**She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, ok? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad…" Her voice faltered. **

"**Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked.**

**Rachel shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be **_**nice**_** to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies Academy in the fall."**

"**The school where your mom went?"**

"**It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in a finishing school?"**

**I had to admit the idea sounded pretty dumb. Rachel was into urban arts projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to "Save the Endangered Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker" and stuff like that. I'd never seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite.**

**She sighed. "He thinks that if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in."**

"Such bad parents," Demeter and Hera muttered angrily.

"**Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?"**

"**Yes… but Percy you'd be doing me a huge favor. It would be so much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I wanted to talk–" She stopped abruptly.**

"**Something you wanted to talk about?" I asked. "You mean… so serious that we'd have to go to St. Thomas to talk about it?"**

"He's so obvlivious!" Clarisse said, shaking her head.

**She pursed her lips. "Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together."**

**I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look like fire.**

Leo's eyes lit up at the mention of fire. Piper rolled her eyes, while Jason watched them amused.

**We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room. I needed to remind myself that the mortal world was still out there, away from all the monsters using me as their personal punching bag.**

"Please, if they even _try, _Percy will just bust out Riptide and send them back to Tartarus within seconds!" Connor yelled. Travis nodded his head, but then shuddered. "Him plus Riptide is not good... he almost cut off my head when I tried to steal his Finding Nemo boxers,"

"Finding Nemo boxers?" Hades asked, smirking at Poseidon who blushed and looked away. "Because Poseidon here, has Little Mermaid ones."

The Throne Room shook with laughter while Poseidon blushed scarlet. Zeus smirked at him and mouthed _'Karma'. _

"**Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people.**

Will rolled his eyes, "Percy will never be normal, not even in demigod standards. He tried talking to communicate with a stuffed dolphin and when the dolphin didn't answer, he made Mrs. O'Leary eat it,"

The gods stared at him while the demigods, except Jason, Piper, and Leo, looked as if it happened everyday.

"Well, hear hear, he gets his weirdness from you, Poseidon," Zeus said in a teasing tone. Poseidon soaked him with seaweed and salt water then slapped his with a cat fish. Zeus glared at his brother, who didn't react.

**She nodded. "And so… hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"**

Annabeth glared hard, her voice was deadly and her words were slow. Her hands were shaking. The demigods backed up from the angered daughter of Athena, before she took out she dagger and started stabbing the book.

"**Oh…" I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows – slow, dumb, and bright red. "Um…"**

The tension in the room was broken and the gods and half-bloods started laughing, including Annabeth.

**I can't pretend that I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than… well, some other girls I knew. I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.**

The demigods started feeling sorry for Rachel, all while the Stolls planned her funeral, along with Percy's.

**I'm not sure what I would have done next – but I was so distracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Prius with a **_**WUMP–WUMP–CRUNCH**_**.**

Leo gasped, horrified, _the poor car. _

_**Hey boss,**_** a voice said in my head, **_**nice car!**_

**Blackjack the Pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get to annoyed by the craters he'd just put in the hood; but I didn't think my stepdad would be real stoked.**

"**Blackjack," I sighed, "What are you–"**

**Then, I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get a lot more complicated.**

"**Sup, Percy."**

**Charles Beckendorf, **

Leo grinned, he would get to hear about what Percy thought about his dead half-brother.

**senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin, would make most monsters cry for their mommies. He was huge, with ripped muscles from working on the forges every summer, two years older than me, and one of the camps best armorsmiths. He made some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was carrying a bunch of monsters across the country. The explosion took out a whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the firs harpy went **_**flush**_**.**

Everyone started chuckling.

**Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and a war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His explosives bad was slung over his shoulder.**

"**Time?" I asked.**

**He nodded grimly.**

The demigods, except Leo, Jason, and Piper, sighed and looked down sadly, while the gods had a bad feeling about it.

**A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was happen. We'd been planning it for week, but I'd half hoped it would never happen. **

"Be brave, Percy!" Ares boomed, "This is _war_!"

**Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. "Hi."**

"**Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me… uh, he mentioned you."**

Athena narrowed her eyes. _Annabeth likes Percy, Percy likes Rachel. This is not good._ Athena thought.

**Rachel raised and eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."**

"**Pretty much," Beckendorf agreed.**

**I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom–"**

"**I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."**

"Such a good friend," Demeter nodded approvingly.

**I nodded my thanks. I figured this would be the last time Paul loaned me his car.**

"**Good luck," Rachel kissed me before I could even react. "Now get going, half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."**

Annabeth looked murderous and as if she was about to rip the book to shreds. Katie, panicking, took the book from Annabeth and started reading, while Annabeth took deep breaths and tried to control her jealousy. She kept telling herself: _This all happened in the past. Percy is yours and not Rachel's. She's the Oracle, she can't date. _Afterwards, she felt slightly better.

**My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, her arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what Rachel wanted to talk to me about, and whether I would live long enough to find out.**

Annabeth cringed. He was so pessimistic.

"**So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth."**

"**Oh gods," I muttered, "Don't even think about it."**

Annabeth glared at the celing, with her arms crossed, while Athena sighed. She had been correct, her daughter indeed had a crush on Percy.

**Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared out over the Atlantic.**

**It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The **_**Princess Andromeda**_** glowed on the horizon–a huge cruise ship lit up in yellow and white. **

"I wanna go on a cruise!" Jason said. Zeus stared at him wide-eyed and was shaking his head 'no' while pointing at Poseidon.

Poseidon rolled his eyes, "I won't drown your son, Zeus. I, unlike you, actually help demigods and don't try to kill them, no matter who their parent is, unless, the half-blood has personally made me upset. I have no problem with children of yours or Hades going near water," Poseidon finished his speech with a sigh and leaned back on his throne, smiling at all the demigods, who all smiled back.

"You're like, the most awesomest god ever, Lord Poseidon!" Leo yelled, "Of course, after my dad," Hephaestus and Poseidon grinned and both shot him a huge smile. The rest of the Olympians stared at Poseidon in envy, every single half-blood that they met, always favored Poseidon the most.

**From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord. **

**Then, as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead–a dark-haired maiden in a chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.**

Annabeth rolled her eyes and mumbled, "Seaweed Brain."

**Seeing the ship again twisted my stomach in knots. I'd almost died twice on the **_**Princess Andromeda**_**. Now it was headed for New York.**

"Twice?" squeaked Poseidon.

"**You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind.**

**I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets. I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started.**

The gods had worried looks on their faces.

"**Blackjack," I said, "Set us down on the lowest stern deck.**

_**Gotcha, boss,**_** he said. **_**Man, I hate seeing that boat**_**.**

**Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the **_**Princess Andromeda **_**until he'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd rather have his mane braided like My Little Pony than be back here again.**

The gods and demigods smiled, Percy was always lightening the mood, even if he wasn't present.

"**Don't wait for us," I told him.**

_**But boss**_**–**

"**Trust me," I said, "We'll get out by ourselves."**

**Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks of the ship–**_**dracaenae**_** snake-women, hellhounds, giants, and the humanoid seal-demons known as telkhines–but we zipped by so fast none of them raised the alarm. We shot down to the stern of the boat, and Blackjack spread his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.**

Poseidon started hypervilating, worrying for his son. Was that why his son was not with the rest of the demigods? Because he had died? No, he couldn't afford to think like that. His son was alive, he just knew it.

_**Good luck, boss,**_** Blackjack said. **_**Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!**_

**With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I pulled out my pen and uncapped it, and Riptide sprang to life–three feet of deadly Celestial bronze glowing in the dusk.**

"Deadly, indeed," Travis said, grimacing, and rubbing his arm from where Percy had stabbed him after he tried to steal his Minotaur horn.

**Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light- the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite. **

Piper smiled at the mention of her half-sister, but her smile faded when she remembered she was now dead.

**They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions, Beckendorf had been happier this summer than I'd ever seen him. **

Aphrodite sighed and smiled, love was everywhere.

**"We'll make it back to camp," I promised.**

**For a second I saw worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile. **

**"You bet," he said. "Let's go blow Kronos back into a million of pieces."**

Hephaestus smiled proudly.

**Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we'd practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us. **

"Not good," Annabeth muttered.

**"I don't care what your noses says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice- a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it turned out to be a meat loaf sandwich!" **

**"Meat loaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood scent, I swear. They are on board!" **

**"Bah, your **_**brain**_** isn't on board!" **

"... Is that possible?" Hermes asked. Apollo shrugged while Athena face-palmed. Katie read on, hurriedly, not wanting a fight to start.

**They continued to argue, and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines started to fade. **

**Finally, we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room." **

**It was locked, but Beckendorf pulled some chain cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter. **

Leo smiled and took out a small blue note-pad, writing down the idea, along with drawing the model. Hephaestus's eyes shinned with pride. His children all made him proud, every time. Piper smiled at Leo and scooted closer to him, watching Leo as he sketched out the model carefully. Jason felt a pang of jealousy in his stomach. He liked Piper a lot, he guessed that she got tired of waiting for him, because he had been pushing her away. Jason had made his decision, he liked Piper a lot and was going to fight for her. Jason glared at Leo, but he didn't seem to notice. Piper smiled at Jason, and his glare faltered. Aphrodite watched this with interest. _A love triangle, huh? _

**Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. **

**He was about five feet tall, with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on . **

Everyone in the room either laughed or giggled at Percy's funny yet random thoughts.

**I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something wrong. He leaped sideways toward a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust. **

Poseidon smiled at his son's skill with the sword.

**"One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go." He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid- Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world. The he threw me another essential tool of the demigod heroes- duct tape. **

**"Slap that one on the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines." **

**We went to work. The room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat. **

"Ew," Aphorodite muttered.

**The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have perfect bearings at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at 40.19 North, 71.90 West, making eighteen knots, which meant the ship would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn. This would be our only chance to stop it. **

"That doesn't sound so promising," Hera spoke, for the first time since the demigods had arrived.

**I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard the pounding of feet on metal steps- so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign. **

"Not good, indeed," Zeus said, in a worried tone.

**I locked eyes with Beckendorf. "How much longer?" **

**"Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least." **

**Judging from the sound of the footsteps, we had about ten seconds. **

Poseidon and Hephaestus paled. Poseidon took out a Finding Nemo blankie and covered himself with it, while curling himself up in a ball and rocking back and forth on his throne, biting his lip and drinking apple juice from a juice box.

"I guess this is where Percy gets that habit from, when he gets upset," Clarisse whispered in Annabeth's ear and she nodded, slightly amused.

Everyone stared at him weirdly for a second, before Annabeth began to read.

**"I'll distract them," I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point." **

"So brave," Demeter praised.

**"Percy-" **

**"Wish me luck." **

**He looked like he wanted to argue. The whole idea had been to get in and out without being spotted. But we were going to have to improvise. **

Annabeth nodded hurriedly, she just wanted them to get out of there soon.

**"Good luck," he said. **

**I charged out the door.**

**A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. I cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing – past another telkhine, who was so started he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I left him alive- partly because his lunch box was cool, **

All of the males in the room nodded approvingly, while the females rolled their eyes.

**partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room.**

"Good thinking," Annabeth muttered.

**I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall had once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience.)**

And Jason thought he had encountered enough monsters before and had the worst luck, until he heard about Percy Jackson's adventures and bad luck.

**Back on my first visit to the **_**Princess Andromeda**_**, my old enemy Luke had kept some dazed tourist on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. Now I didn't see any sign of tourists. I hated to think what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd been allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.**

Hera rolled her eyes, they were just mortals, after all.

**I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold.****In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab. **

"Well, that's good right?" Piper asked, then continued, "He is the son of the sea god, after all,"

**I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat Alaskan king crab. I'm talking **_**giant**_** like bigger than the fountain. The monster rose ten feet out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, its pincers longer than my body. **

Everyone's eyes widened in fear.

**If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size. **

Aphrodite looked horrified and grossed out.

**Its beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see intelligence in them- and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr. Crabby. **

"Not even five seconds, and he already named it," Clarisse said, sighing and shaking her head as if to say, _he's hopeless. _

**"**_**FFFFfffffff**_**," it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off it was like garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week. **

Katie had trouble reading because she was too busy trying to not imagine the smell.

**Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving. **

Poseidon rocked back and forth faster, hidding under his blanky.

**"Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so-" **

Everyone snorted.

**The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping. I dove into a gift shop, plowing through a rack if T-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr. Crabby turned and followed. **

Apollo smirked and repeated, "Mr. Crabby." Hermes shook his head, amused.

**"There!" a voice said from a balcony about me. "Intruder!" **

**If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ship, I was crab chow. **

"Way to be optimistic, he's giving his father a heart attack," Zeus said, rolling his eyes at Poseidon.

**The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt. **

**I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab- something about Hercules crushing it under his big food? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks. **

"Yes, slightly," Annabeth mumbled, sarcastically.

**Then a weird thought occurred to me. Last Christmas, my mom and I had brought Paul Blofis to our old cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of the things, he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armor, right in the middle of their ugly bellies. **

Poseidon glared at the mention of Paul. He was jealous.

**The only problem was getting to the ugly belly. **

"Ew," Katie whispered then continued reading.

**I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks. I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming, "AHHHHHHH!" **

"Hey, remember Tyson's war cry?" Will asked, nudging Travis, he nodded and stood up, pretending to hold a sword while yelling: "PEANUT BUTTEEERR!"

The room was silent.

"Awkwaaaaard~" Leo said, then hummed 'Never Say Never' by Justin Bieber.

Jason stared at Leo... "Did you just hum a Justin Bieber song?" Leo blushed from embarrassment and then looked down.

"You didn't see anything. You didn't hear anything. Got it?" Leo muttered, but everyone heard. No one argued with him.

**Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slid on the wet marble floor straight under the creature. It was like sliding under a seven-ton armored vehicle. All the crab had to do was sit and squash me, but before it realized what I was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out the backside. **

Everyone was in shock, until Connor broke the silence by yelling: 'I KNEW HE WAS A NINJA!"

Hermes and Apollo nodded, eager to meet the demigod.

**The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red as its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap. **

**I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. **

"I'm admiring it now." Jason muttered, slightly jealous because he wished _he _could do what Percy had just done.

**I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed. Riptide, being magic, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for now it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.**

"Riptide," Leo repeated, his eyes shinning with admiration.

**In the elevator foyer on deck eight, a couple of dracaenae slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were woman with green scaly skin, yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them. **

**"What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss!" **

**I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a YOU ARE HERE display. **

"He's never in the mood to play break-the-snake," Travis muttered sadly. Everyone stared at him with an _are-you-serious _look. He shrugged it off and told Katie to read.

**I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first_ dracaena. _The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship.**

"She went down with the ship," Piper repeated, a smile twitching on her lips.

**I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung her around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship. **

**"Get him!" she screamed. Hellhounds bayed. An arrow from somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.**

**I didn't care- as long as I got the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time. **

Hephaestus nodded.

**As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve- about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. **

The demigods who had been in the war looked down sadly.

**That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed – trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy. **

"Kronos," Annabeth said angrily.

**No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand. **

**Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it. **

"He's too nice, he needs to learn to be mean for once," Clarisse said loudly, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes, scoffing.

Annabeth glared at her, "It's not in his nature to be mean to people, Clarisse. You've tried teaching him to be meaner for years, it hasn't worked, has it?"

The gods and Jason, Leo, and Piper raised their eyebrows at this.

**"If you want to live, "I told him, "get off this ship now. Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next door. **

Clarisse grumbled.

**I kept climbing. **

**Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit. **

**I burst outside onto the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.**

The gods frowned.

**All I had to do was cross to the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad- our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges from a quarter mile away. **

Katie shook her head while reading, her voice becoming shaky. She knew what was coming next.

**I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "You're late, Percy." **

Annabeth gasped and stared at the book in horror. _Luke. _

**Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a white T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold. **

Hermes looked down sadly while Annabeth glared. She still hadn't forgiven him completely.

**"We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful- the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words scraped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me." **

"Come bow before me," Will mocked, "Evil guys need to get a new line," he sighed and rolled his eyes, not making eye-contact.

**"Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered. **

Poseidon smirked.

**Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for a cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so face unless they'd known I was coming. **

Poseidon gripped his blanky and started chewing on his finger nails, his juice box on the floor.

**I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even still alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed . . . Or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him. **

Annabeth closed her eyes and sighed. _Luke chose his path. _

**A voice in my head said: _I have to fight him eventually. Why not now? _**

"Brave boy," Hestia muttered.

**According to that big prophecy, I was supposed to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? **

"A lot. You just don't make prophecies happen," Athena explained at the book-Percy.

**I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before. **

**As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was _Kronos. I had to remember that. _**

**"Come forward," he said. "If you dare." **

"If you dare," mocked Connor, "I'm ashamed to be his brother,"

Hermes looked down again, while Travis and Chris nodded in agreement.

**The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword. **

"Ninja Percy to the rescue," Leo whispered in Piper's ear, making her laugh lightly. Jason watched the exchange with jealousy clearly shown in his eyes.

**Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands- a six-foot-long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steel. Just looking at it made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged. **

"NO." Poseidon yelled, then fainted on the spot.

**Time slowed down. I mean _literally _slowed down, because Kronos had that power. I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.**

"Cheat," Leo mumbled.

**I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me- the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the year, but now nothing seemed to happen. I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered _Dracaenae _hissed with laughter_. _**

The demigods and gods looked worried.

**_Hey, ocean,_**** I pleaded. _Any day would be good. _**

**Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the deck. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward. **

Everyone had their mouth's opened. How powerful was Percy? Powerful enough to break Kronos' spell. Jason, once again, felt a pang of jealousy. Why couldn't _he _have more cool powers like Percy's?

**I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake of looking at his face- _Luke's __face- a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him. _**

Annabeth glared at the floor. Athena watched her worriedly.

**Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back, and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting a gash in the deck right between my feet. **

Poseidon was still passed out.

**I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator. **

"He should know, from experience," Annabeth said, breaking the tension, making everyone laugh. _Oh Percy. _

**Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only deflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain. **

The gods were horrified. Poor boy.

**I remembered what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: _Careful, fool. One touch, and the blade will sever your soul from your body. _Now I understood what he meant. I wasn't just losing blood. I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.**

Annabeth looked like she was on the verge of tears.

**I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that. **

**Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay." **

The demigods rolled their eyes, except the lost hero kids. "Please, Percy stole Luke's title as the best swordsman in 300 years in a day," Chris said, glaring at the floor.

The new trio and the gods looked impressed.

**My vision started to blur. I knew I didn't have much time. "Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was his head." **

Katie nodded, and continued reading.

**"A shame to kill you now, " Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus." **

The Olympians glared at the ceiling.

**"You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision. **

**"And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face- Luke's face- seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?" **

"No!" Hephaestus yelled.

**He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!" A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crowd. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life. **

Clarisse grumbled again. Percy was _too_ nice.

**"Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told." **

**He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between them. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off. **

"No…" Leo whispered, it was hard hearing about your half-brother and how he died. Piper hugged Leo, and Jason wanted to rip them apart, but stopped himself. He let it slide because it was about Leo's brother's death, after all.

**"No!" I yelled. **

**Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. His watch. They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives were armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away. **

**"We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?" **

"Good plan," Athena complimented, nodding her head in approvement.

**"Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?" **

**"He was going _toward the engine room, my lord." _**

**"How do you know that?" **

**"Er . . . " Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives." **

**Slowly, I began to understand. **

**Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it. **

**Kronos hesitated. **

"Buy the story," Poseidon chanted.

**_Buy the story,_**** I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand. **

"Like father like son," Apollo said, trying and failing to lighten up the mood.

**"Open his bag," Kronos ordered. One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches. **

**I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger. **

**"Did you, perhaps," he said, "capture this demigod near the galley?" **

**Ethan turned pale. "Um-" **

**"And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?" **

"Woah, temper," Connor said, teasingly.

**Ethan scrambled back in terror, then turned on his heels and ran. **

"Coward," muttered Ares.

**I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand: _How long? _**

**He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. _Zero. _**

Hephaestus had tears running down his face. His poor son.

**There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both. **

Leo and Hephaestus both looked downright depressed, avoiding eye-contact with everyone else. Piper comforted Leo, while Athena and Hestia comforted Hephaestus.

**Kronos turned toward me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks." **

**He held out his hand and dangled a little silver bracelet with a scythe charm-the Titan lord's symbol. **

**The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think, but I muttered, "Communication device . . . Spy at camp." **

**Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way. **

Annabeth took out her dagger and started cleaning it with her shirt, eyeing the book. Everyone backed away from her.

**Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies." **

**I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.**

**Beckendorf mouthed one word: _Go. _**

Leo was sobbing, even if he hadn't known his brother, it still hurt him.

**I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him. **

**The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly- toward the watch on his right wrist. **

"A true hero." Hestia said, smiling sadly.

**I wanted to scream, _NO! _**

**Then down by the swimming pool, one of the dracaenae hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?" **

**Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought his hand up to his watch. **

"He will go to Elisyum," Hades assured everyone.

**I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through a crowd of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship- toward the water a hundred feet below. **

Leo didn't blame Percy, at least he had tried. _Damn you, Kronos. _Leo thought.

**I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierced my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away-a hundred yards, two hundred yards. **

**Even from that distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The _Princess Andromeda _blew up from both sides, a massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.**

Hephaestus stood up and walked out of the room, tears still streaming down his face.

**Beckendorf, I thought. **

**Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.**

Katie closed the book and set it on a table, near the couches where they were sitting at.

"I say, we take a break," Hestia proposed, nobody argued.

* * *

Review. xoxo~


	2. Chapter 2

**Change of schedule for updating this story starting next week! New updating day for this story is on Mondays and for my chaos story it's on Fridays. **[Changed my pen name, like it? :D] From now on, I'll be signing my PMs and reviews and ANs as '**Fascination~ xoxo'**

Chapter 2- FULL Chapter

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, their break was over and everyone starting filling in the throne room, taking their seats and making themselves comfortable. This time, Jason made sure to sit in between Piper and Leo. Aphrodite catching this, squealed, while Artemis rolled her eyes at Aphrodite, muttering something about love being stupid and 'men are pigs'. Connor took the book that was sitting on one of the couches and flipped it open to the second chapter.

"**I meet some Fishy Relatives,"** Connor read.

Poseidon sat up, grinning. He no longer had his blanket with him.

**Demigod dreams suck. **

The demigods nodded.

**The thing is, they're never just dreams. They've got to be visions, omens, and all that other mystical stuff that makes my brain hurt. **

"He could replace Rachel as the Oracle." Katie said smiling.

**I dreamed I was in a dark palace at the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, I recognized it: the palace of the Titans on top of Mount Othrys, otherwise known as Mount Tamalpais, in California. The main pavilion was open to the night, ringed with black Greek columns and statues of the Titans. **

The gods wrinkled their noses in disgust at the mention of those _Titans. _

**Torchlight glowed against the black marble floor. In the center of the room, an armored giant struggled under the weight of a swirling funnel cloud – Atlas, holding up the sky. **

Annabeth twirled her gray streak of hair in her finger, frowning at the memories.

**Two other giant men stood nearby over a bronze brazier, studying images in the flames. **

Hestia huffed.

**"Quite an explosion," one said. He wore black armor studded with silver dots like a starry night. His face was covered in a war helm with a ram's horn curling on either side. **

"Krios, I fought him," Jason said proudly. The demigods stared at him, their eyebrows raised, unimpressed.

"What?" Jason asked. "Oh nothing, Percy fought four titans." Travis said casually, inspecting his nails.

The lost hero trio, along with the Olympians jaws dropped to the floor.

Connor looked around awkwardly then began reading again, after five seconds of silence.

**"It doesn't matter," the other said. This Titan was dressed in gold robes, with golden eyes like Kronos. His entire body glowed. He reminded me of Apollo, God of the Sun, **

Apollo looked offended.

"Edward Cullen," Chris whispered to Travis, who snorted with laughter.

**except the Titan's light was harsher, and his expression crueler. **

"Oh." Apollo said, blushing slightly.

Travis and Chris, laughing quietly in the background.

**"The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed." **

"You wish," Ares grunted, crossing his arms and scoffing angrily.

**The images in the fire were hard to make out: storms, buildings crumbling, mortals screaming in terror. **

The Olympians looked worried.

**"I will go east to marshal our forces," the golden Titan said. "Krios, you shall remain and guard Mount Othrys." **

"Didn't work out so well, did it?" Jason muttered under his breath, still proud that he had defeated the Titan.

**The ram horn dude grunted. "I always get the stupid jobs. Lord of the South. Lord of Constellations. Now I get to babysit Atlas while **_**you**_** have all the fun." **

"Whinny baby, shut up." Zeus said, gripping his Master Bolt.

**Under the whirlwind of clouds, Atlas bellowed in agony, "Let me out, curse you! I am your greatest warrior. Take my burden so I may fight!"**

"LIAR!" Travis yelled. Everyone stared at him. Travis smiled awkwardly before waving his hand at his brother, saying, "Carry on."

**"Quiet!" the golden Titan roared. "You had your chance, Atlas. You failed. Kronos likes you just where you are. As for you, Krios, do your duty." **

"Roared.. he he." Travis said. Artemis rolled her eyes and muttered something about immature little pigs.

**"And if you need more warriors?" Krios asked. "Our treacherous nephew in the tuxedo will not do you much good in a fight." **

Demeter rolled her eyes, "Who wears a tuxedo during a war?"

"A stylish Titan, duh!" Aphrodite responded in a 'duh' voice, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Piper stared at her mother in disbelief before she shook her head and looked down at her feet.

_'Why did her mother have to be _her_? Why couldn't it be Athena?" _

It was as if Athena read her mind, because she beamed at Piper approvingly. Annabeth smiled at Piper knowingly.

**The golden Titan laughed. "Don't worry about him. Besides, the gods can barely handle our first little challenge. **

The Big Three crossed their arms and muttered curses in Ancient Greek, glaring at the floor.

**They have no idea how many others we have in store. Mark my words, in a few days' time, Olympus will be in ruins, and we will meet here again to celebrate the dawn of the Sixth Age!" **

"THAT'S WHAT THEY ALL SAY!" Leo yelled. He was slapped by Piper, which made him close his mouth shut, rubbing his left cheek, which had a bright red hand mark on it.

**The golden Titan erupted into flames and disappeared. **

**"Oh, sure," Krios grumbled. "He gets to erupt into flames. I get to wear these stupid ram's horns." **

"Whatever, my entrances and exits are way better than his," Zeus voiced, rolling his eyes.

Poseidon and Hades shook their heads thinking to themselves: _Draaammmmaaa Queeen. _

**The scene shifted. Now I was outside the pavilion, hiding in the shadows of a Greek column. A boy stood next to me, eavesdropping on the Titans. He had dark silky hair, pale skin, and dark clothes – my friend Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades. **

At that moment, the room was filled with dark shadows, making the room insanely dark. The shadows went away after a few seconds, and standing in front of Hades' throne was Nico, with his sword in hand, looking around in alarm. He caught sight of the gods and the campers and sighed in relief, putting his sword away.

"Hey guys, what am I doin' here?" he asked, curiously.

Annabeth motioned for him to sit in between her and Katie, which he did, and explained what they were doing. After five minutes of explaining, and Nico listening intently, they were done. Nico introduced himself with his full title and bowed down to the gods, then went back to his seat and sat down.

"Alright, so, carry on." Nico said, laying back on the couch, relaxing.

The lost hero trio stared at the son of Hades curiously, but said nothing.

**He looked straight at me, his expression grim. "You see, Percy?" he whispered. "You're running out of time. Do you really think you can beat them without my plan?" His words washed over me as cold as the ocean floor, and my dreams went black.**

"What plan?" Athena asked Nico, suspiciously.

Nico shrugged and said nothing, which made Athena glare. Connor continued on reading before Athena could vaporize Nico.

**"Percy?" a deep voice said. **

**My head felt like it had been microwaved in aluminum foil. I opened my eyes and saw a large shadowy figure looming over me.**

**"Beckendorf?" I asked hopefully. **

"I wish." Hephaestus muttered darkly.

**"No, brother." **

Poseidon sat up straighter.

**My eyes refocused. I was looking at a Cyclops-a misshapen face, ratty brown hair, one big brown eye full of concern. "Tyson?" **

**My brother broke into a toothy grin. "Yay! Your brain works!" **

Clarisse snorted.

**I wasn't so sure. **

The demigods minus the lost hero trio smirked.

**My body felt weightless and cold. My voice sounded wrong. I could hear Tyson, but it was more like I was hearing vibrations inside my skull, not the regular sounds. **

Leo looked excited.

**I sat up, and a gossamer sheet floated away. I was on a bed made of silky woven kelp, in a room paneled with abalone shell. Glowing pearls the size of basketballs floated around the ceiling, providing light. I was under water. **

"Nah, duh." Nico muttered to himself.

**Now, being the son of Poseidon and all, I was okay with this. I can breathe underwater just fine, and my clothes don't even get wet unless I want them to. But it was still a bit of a shock when a hammerhead shark drifted through the bedroom window, regarded me, and then swam calmly out the opposite side of the room. **

Leo looked shocked and awed. The Olympians and demigods looked excited to find out what Poseidon's kingdom looked like.

**"Where–" **

**"Daddy's palace," Tyson said. **

Poseidon beamed.

**Under different circumstances, I would've been excited. I'd never visited Poseidon's realm, and I'd been dreaming about it for years. But my head hurt. My shirt was still speckled with burn marks from the explosion. My arm and leg wounds had healed-just being in the ocean can do that for me, given enough time–but I still felt like I'd been trampled by a Laistrygonian soccer team in cleats. **

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "He would know."

Poseidon's eyes widened but before he could question Annabeth, Connor began reading obnoxiously loud.

**"How long–" **

**"We found you last night," Tyson said, "sinking through the water." **

**"The **_**Princess Andromeda**_**?" **

**"Went ka-boom, " Tyson confirmed. **

Hephaestus frowned.

**"Beckendorf was on board. Did you find…"**

**Tyson's face darkened. "No sign of him. I am sorry, brother." **

**I stared out the window into deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall. He had a girlfriend, **

Aphrodite had tears running down her tanned cheeks. Her daughter would be heartbroken.

**lots of friends, and his whole life ahead of him. He couldn't be **_**gone**_**. Maybe he'd made it off the ship like I had. Maybe he'd jumped over the side… and what? He couldn't have survived a hundred-foot fall into the water like I could. He couldn't have put enough distance between himself and the explosion. **

**I knew in my gut he was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take out the Princess Andromeda, and I had abandoned him. **

"Don't blame yourself, Percy." Hephaestus said softly. Annabeth nodded sadly, "He blames himself for any death he's witnessed. He thinks it was his fault, to this day."

Hephaestus smiled sadly and then looked down.

**I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't matter, Nico Di Angelo warning me that I would never beat Kronos without following his plan – a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year. **

Nico looked down, feeling guilty that he practically forced Percy.

**I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't matter, Nico Di Angelo warning me that I would never beat Kronos without following his plan – a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year. **

Nico still didn't look up when he felt the Olympians eyes on him.

**A distant blast shook the room. Green light blazed outside, turning the whole sea as bright as noon. **

**"What was that?" I asked. **

**Tyson looked worried. "Daddy will explain. Come, he is blowing up monsters."**

Poseidon smirked at his two brothers.

**The palace might have been the most amazing place I'd ever seen if it hadn't been in the process of getting destroyed. We swam to the end of a long hallway and shot upward on a geyser. As we rose over the rooftops I caught my breath – well, if you can catch your breath underwater. **

"My children can... cause they're BEAST!" Poseidon yelled, smiling in thriumpht (sp?).

**The palace was as big as the city on Mount Olympus, **

Zeus glared at Poseidon, while the demigods listened closely, in awe.

**with wide courtyards, gardens, and columned pavilions. The gardens were sculpted with coral colonies and glowing sea plants. Twenty or thirty buildings were made of abalone, white but gleaming with rainbow colors. Fish and octopi darted in and out of the windows. The paths were lined with glowing pearls like Christmas lights. **

"Amazing." Annabeth whispered, picturing it all in her head.

The rest of the Olympians, minus Zeus, and the demigods nodded, their mouths opened in amazement.

**The main courtyard was filled with warriors – mermen with fish tails from the waist down and human bodies from the waist up, except their skin was blue, which I'd never known before. Some were tending the wounded. **

Hades and Zeus looked at Poseidon worried.

**Some were sharpening spears and swords. One passed us, swimming in a hurry. His eyes were bright green, like that stuff they put in glow sticks, and his teeth were shark teeth. They don't show you stuff like that in **_**The Little Mermaid**_**. **

Annabeth grinned, shaking her head, but then looked down sadly. Katie, noticing this, put an arm around her, comforting Annabeth.

**Outside the main courtyard stood large fortifications-towers, walls, and antisiege weapons-but most of these had been smashed to ruins. Others were blazing with a strange green light that I knew well – Greek fire, which can burn even underwater. **

Jason raised an eyebrow, looking impressed.

**Beyond this, the sea floor stretched into gloom. I could see battles raging – flashes of energy, explosions, the glint of armies clashing. A regular human would've found it too dark to see. **

"I wanna go visit..." Nico muttered, but Poseidon heard him.

"Sure you can!" Poseidon told Nico.

Nico was surprised, along with everyone else.

"Really? You don't hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?" Poseidon asked, furrowing his eyebrows, just like Percy did when he was confused.

"I'm the son of Hades."

"So? I don't have anything against demigods, no matter who their parent is, unless the demigod personally offended me or my children." Poseidon said, shrugging, flashing a kind smile to all of the half-bloods, who returned the smile.

"I guess Percy gets his niceness from his father." Annabeth spoke out loud. The other demigods, minus the lost hero trio, nodded agreeing with Annabeth's statement.

**Heck, a regular human would've been crushed by the pressure and frozen by the cold. Even my heat – sensitive eyes couldn't make out exactly what was going on. **

Poseidon frowned, once again. He seemed to be doing that a lot.

**At the edge of the palace complex, a temple with a red coral roof exploded, sending fire and debris streaming in slow motion across the farthest gardens. Out of the darkness above, an enormous form appeared – a squid larger than any skyscraper. **

"Erm.." Leo said.

"Don't worry, they're harmless. We can all go to my palace after we're done with the chapter. Sound good?"

Everyone nodded excitedly.

"But, how're we going to be able to breathe underwater?" Athena asked Poseidon curiously.

"Air bubbles around every one of you." Poseidon responded simply.

**It was surrounded by a glittering cloud of dust – at least I thought it was dust, until I realized it was a swarm of mermen trying to attack the monster. **

"Edward Cullens..." Connor muttered under his breath to his brother, who nodded and kept a straight face. Connor continued reading,

**The squid descended on the palace and swatted its tentacles, smashing a whole column of warriors. Then a brilliant arc of blue light shot from the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings. The light hit the giant squid, and the monster dissolved like food coloring in water. **

Leo stared at Poseidon amazed. "YOU sir, are awesome."

Poseidon smirked again and then smiled smugly at the rest of the Olympians, who rolled their eyes at him.

Piper smiled at Leo, amused, and Jason immediately put an arm around her waist. Piper looked at Jason confused but didn't say anything.

**"Daddy," Tyson said, pointing to where the light had come from. **

**"He did that?" I suddenly felt more hopeful. My dad had unbelievable powers. He was the god of the sea. He could deal with this attack, right? Maybe he'd let me help. **

"I don't think so. I won't let you get hurt." Poseidon told book-Percy.

"Erm, he isn't here." Apollo told Poseidon carefully, afraid to anger his uncle.

Hermes nodded in agreement and Poseidon rolled his eyes at both gods.

**"Have you been in the fight?" I asked Tyson in awe. "Like bashing heads with your awesome Cyclops strength and stuff?" **

"Daaaaaad, can I have awesome Cyclops strength and stuff?" Apollo whined, and directed his question at Zeus, who shook his head 'no'.

"Hera, dudeeeette... can I-"

"NO." Hera snapped.

"But-"

"I SAID NO!" Hera yelled, clearly aggravated.

**Tyson pouted, and immediately I knew I'd asked a bad question, "I have been… fixing weapons," he mumbled. "Come. Let's go find Daddy."**

**I know this might sound weird to people with, like, regular parents, but I'd only seen my dad four or five times in my life, and never for more than a few minutes. The Greek gods don't exactly show up for their kids' basketball games. Still, I thought I would recognize Poseidon on sight. **

"Why does he call you 'Poseidon' and not dad?" Jason asked Poseidon.

Poseidon shrugged and fiddled with his thumbs.

"Back then, Percy wasn't as comfortable talking with him as he is now. He calls Poseidon 'dad' all the time and sometimes, 'daddy'... when he wants something, which is rare." Annabeth said, answering Jason and making Poseidon smile.

**I was wrong. **

"When is he ever right?" Nico asked, rolling his eyes, playing with a skeleton of a hamster, making it tap-dance on his lap.

**The roof of the temple was a big open deck that had been set up as a command center. A mosaic on the floor showed an exact map of the palace grounds and the surrounding ocean, but the mosaic moved. Colored stone tiles representing different armies and sea monsters shifted around as the forces changed position. Buildings that collapsed in real life also collapsed in the picture. **

"I can't wait to go there!" Piper squealed excitedly.

"Woah Beauty Queen, did you just _squeal_?" Leo asked in a teasing tone.

Piper blushed and looked the other way, avoiding eye-contact. Jason smiled softly at her.

_'She looks cute when she blushes.' _He thought.

**Standing around the mosaic, grimly studying the battle was a strange assortment of warriors, but none of them looked like my dad. I was searching for a big guy with a good tan and a black beard, wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. **

"You could be the god of awesome facial hair, uncle P." Hermes told Poseidon, smirking.

Poseidon looked smug.

Zeus glared and muttered, "My beard is better."

Artemis shook her head rolling her eyes, while Hera made a face at him.

**There was nobody like that. One guy was a merman with two fish tails instead of one. His skin was green, his armor studded with pearls. His black hair was tied in a ponytail, and he looked young- though it's hard to tell with non-humans. **

"Triton. He and Percy get along now." Annabeth informed Poseidon.

Poseidon looked shocked, but pleased.

**They could be a thousand years old or three. Standing next to him was an old man with a bushy white beard and gray hair. His battle armor seemed to weigh him down. He had green eyes and smile wrinkles around his eyes, but he wasn't smiling now. He was studying the map and leaning on a large metal staff. **

Zeus and Hades frowned, worried for their brother.

**To his right stood a beautiful woman in green armor with flowing black hair and strange little horns like crab claws. **

"She's pretty fond of Percy too, now, at least, from what I've heard." Katie said, while Annabeth nodded, confirming Katie's statement.

**And there was a dolphin-just a regular dolphin, but it was staring at the map intently. **

"Wut?" Jason and Leo asked dumbfounded. Piper just blinked. Poseidon smiled sheepishly but didn't say anything.

**"Delphin," the old man said. "Send Palaemon and his legion of sharks to the western front. We have to neutralize those leviathans." **

**The dolphin spoke in a chattering voice, but I could understand it in my mind: **_**Yes, lord!**_** It sped away.**

"You have a legion of sharks..." Demeter said, blinking, while Apollo and Hermes grinned. Artemis stared at Poseidon, and Zeus and Hades raised their eyebrows.

"I have a lot of things... That normal people consider strange, but it's really cool." Poseidon told everyone.

"I remember Percy telling me about Delphin." Annabeth said, her gray-eyes had a far away look as if she was having a flashback.

**I looked in dismay at Tyson, then back at the old man. **

**It didn't seem possible, but… "Dad?" I asked. **

**The old man looked up. I recognized the twinkle in his eyes, but his face… He looked like he'd aged forty years. **

Poseidon clenched his trident so hard, his knuckles turned white. Everyone in the throne room looked worried. If Poseidon was like this, the other gods didn't want to think the state of Olympus during the war.

**"Hello, Percy." **

**"What – what happened to you?"**

Hera shook her head in disappointment.

**Tyson nudged me. He was shaking his head so hard I was afraid it would fall off, but Poseidon didn't look offended. **

"Even if he did offend him, he wouldn't hurt Percy. He's his favorite son." Clarisse said, rolling her eyes, but a small smile was on her face.

Poseidon nodded in agreement.

"Just don't tell Triton that..." Poseidon voiced worriedly.

Will snorted, "Percy told me that Triton already knows that Percy's your favorite. I mean, it's kind of obvious."

The demigods who knew Percy nodded completely agreeing, although they were envious.

**"It's all right, Tyson," he said. "Percy, excuse my appearance. The war has been hard on me." **

**"But you're immortal," I said quietly. "You can look… Any way you want." **

**"I reflect the state of my realm," **

"That's amazing." Piper muttered.

**he said. "And right now that state is quite grim. Percy, I should introduce you – I'm afraid you just missed my lieutenant Delphin, God of the Dolphins. This is my, er, wife, Amphitrite. My dear-" **

**The lady in green armor stared at me coldly, then crossed her arms and said, "Excuse me, my lord. I am needed in the battle." **

**She swam away. **

"Cold shoulder, I see." Jason whispered so low, that he could barely hear himself. Truthfully, he was jealous of Percy Jackson. The guy had everything. Loyal and awesome friends, respected at camp and looked up to highly, a mother, his godly parent who actually interacts with him, and was an amazing swordsman, from what he's heard. It was impossible not to feel at least a little envy towards the guy.

**I felt pretty awkward, but I guess I couldn't blame her. I'd never thought about it much, but my dad had an immortal wife. All his romances with mortals, including with my mom… Well, Amphitrite probably didn't like that much. **

"Like I said, she does know," Annabeth reassured Poseidon, catching the worried glint in his sea-green eyes. The same eyes as Percy's. Annabeth looked down and Katie comforted her again.

**Poseidon cleared his throat. "Yes, well… And this is my son Triton. Er, my other son." **

**"Your son and heir," the green dude corrected. His double fish tails swished back and forth. He smiled at me, but there was no friendliness in his eyes. "Hello, Perseus Jackson. Come to help at last?" **

Annabeth huffed and crossed her arms, muttering angrily. She knew the two brothers got along, but back then, Triton didn't have to act so cruelly towards Percy.

**He acted like I was late or lazy. If you can blush underwater, I probably did. **

**"Tell me what to do," I said. **

**Triton smiled like that was a cute suggestion – like I was a slightly amusing dog that had barked for him or something. He turned to Poseidon. "I will see to the front line, Father. Don't worry. I will not fail." **

"'I will not fail'," Nico repeated angrily, in a bad impression of Triton's voice.

**He nodded politely to Tyson. How come I didn't get that much respect? Then he shot off into the water. **

**Poseidon sighed. He raised his staff, and it changed into his regular weapon – a huge three-pointed trident. The tip glowed with blue light, and the water around it boiled with energy. **

**"I'm sorry about that," he told me. **

Poseidon sighed and looked down, his mind drifting to the Percy of his time. His seven year old Percy... Hmm... That thought gave Poseidon an idea.

**A huge sea serpent appeared from above us and spiraled down toward the roof. It was bright orange with a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a gymnasium. **

Leo's eyes were as big as saucers.

**Hardly looking up, Poseidon pointed his trident at the beast and zapped it with blue energy. Ka-boom! The monster burst into a million goldfish, which all swam off in terror. **

"Why goldfish?" Piper asked curiously.

"I like goldfish." Poseidon said simply.

"I remember when Grover gave Percy a goldfish for his birthday last year, then three days later, Percy flushed it down the toilet. He said that the goldfish was 'a meanie butt' and always made fun of him because of his singing," Nico said, a teasing smile on his lips.

All of the males in the room burst out laughing loudly, while the females rolled their eyes.

"The year before that, Grover gave him a cup of fresh water, though." Clarisse pointed out.

"And the year before that, Grover gave him an empty fish bowl." Chris also spoke up.

Travis nodded, "And the year before that, he gave Percy a chunk of his personal space."

Connor was nodding his head while laughing quietly.

"Ah, the look on Percy's face that year was priceless." Will finished with a loud snort of laughter.

Connor cleared his throat and began reading again.

**"My family is anxious," Poseidon continued as if nothing had happened. "The battle against Oceanus is going poorly." **

Poseidon glared at the floor.

**He pointed to the edge of the mosaic. With the butt of his trident he tapped the image of a merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. He appeared to be riding a chariot pulled by craw-fish, and instead of a sword he wielded a live serpent. **

**"Oceanus," I said, trying to remember. "The Titan of the sea?" **

Clarisse looked impressed, "He actually knows something?"

Annabeth glared at her, "He can be very smart when he wants to. He just doesn't like to show it, he leaves the thinking to me, cause well, he knows I like thinking." Annabeth finished rather awkwardly. She gestured for Connor to start reading again.

**Poseidon nodded. "He was neutral in the first war of gods and Titans. But Kronos has convinced him to fight. This is… Well, it's not a good sign. Oceanus would not commit unless he was sure he could pick the winning side." **

**"He looks stupid," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "I mean, who fights with a snake?" **

"Oceanus does," Nico pointed out seriously.

Awkward silence and then, lots of 'riiiight' from everyone.

**"Daddy will tie it in knots," Tyson said firmly. **

Poseidon smiled brightly. "Yes, I'll tie it in knots." He confirmed, earning a laugh from everyone.

"Same sense of humor as Percy." Annabeth whispered, but only Katie heard her.

**Poseidon smiled, but he looked weary. "I appreciate your faith. We have been at war almost a year now. My powers are taxed. And still he finds new forces to throw at me-sea monsters so ancient I had forgotten about them." **

**I heard an explosion in the distance. About half a mile away, a mountain of coral disintegrated under the weight of two giant creatures. I could dimly make out their shapes. One was a lobster. **

"I miss Mr. Crabby," Leo said, sighing to himself. Everyone wisely chose to ignore him.

**The other was a giant humanoid like a Cyclops, but he was surrounded by a flurry of limbs. At first I thought he wearing a bunch of giant octopi. Then I realized they were his own arms – a hundred flailing, fighting arms. **

**"Briares!" I said. **

**I was happy to see him, but he looked like he was fighting for his life. He was the last of his kind-a Hundred-Handed One, cousin of the Cyclopes. We'd saved him from Kronos's prison last summer, and I knew he'd come to help Poseidon, but I hadn't heard of him since. **

**"He fights well," Poseidon said. "I wish we had a whole army like him, but he is the only one." **

Annabeth and Nico frowned.

**I watched as Briares bellowed in rage and picked up the lobster, which thrashed and snapped its pincers. He threw it off the coral mountain, and the lobster disappeared into the darkness. Briares swam after it, his hundred arms spinning like the blades of a motorboat. **

**"Percy, we may not have much time," my dad said. "Tell me of your mission. Did you see Kronos?" **

"Up close and personal and all," Will muttered quietly, making sure nobody heard him.

**I told him everything, though my voice choked up when I explained about Beckendorf. I looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundreds of wounded mermen lying on makeshift cots. I saw rows of coral mounds that must've been hastily made graves. **

Poseidon put his face in his hands. He couldn't allow his people to suffer.

**I realized Beckendorf wasn't the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I'd never felt so angry and helpless. **

"He always feels that way during battle." Nico said, looking at the ceiling sadly, remembering his cousin. He sincerely hoped that Percy was doing okay on his quest to free Thanatos during his time. He was also worried about his sister, Hazel.

[Nico comes from a day before he leaves for his mission in SoN and a day after Percy left for his quest]

**Poseidon stroked his beard. "Percy, Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame for that. Kronos's army will be in disarray. Many were destroyed." **

**"But we didn't kill him, did we?" **

**As I said it, I knew it was a naive hope. We might blow up his ship and disintegrate his monsters, but a Titan lord wouldn't be so easy to kill. **

**"No," Poseidon admitted. "But you've bought our side some time." **

Athena nodded approvingly.

**"There were demigods on that ship," I said, thinking of the kid I'd seen in the stairwell. Somehow I'd allowed myself to concentrate on the monsters and Kronos. I'd convinced myself that destroying their ship was all right because they were evil, they were sailing to attack my city, and besides, they couldn't really be permanently killed. Monsters just vaporized and re-formed eventually. But demigods… **

**Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. "Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not… They chose their path." **

"That probably didn't make him feel any better." Will said.

**"They were brainwashed!" I said. "Now they're dead and Kronos is still alive. That's supposed to make me feel better?" **

"Told you," Will sighed. He knew Percy well and he knew that Percy also felt guilty about all those deaths.

**I glared at the mosaic-little tile explosions destroying tile monsters. It seemed so easy when it was just a picture. **

**Tyson put his arm around me. If anybody else had tried that, I would've pushed him away, but Tyson was too big and stubborn. He hugged me whether I wanted it or not. "Not your fault, brother. Kronos does not explode good. Next time we will use a big stick." **

All of the demigods, minus the lost hero trio grinned evilly, imagining the pleasant scenario in their heads. The male gods looked amused.

**"Percy," my father said. "Beckendorf's sacrifice wasn't in vain. You have scattered the invasion force. New York will be safe for a time, which frees the other Olympians to deal with the bigger threat." **

The demigods who had been in the war glared at the ground harshly, as if it had just peed in their Cheerios.

**"The bigger threat?" I thought about what the golden Titan had said in my dream: **_**The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed**_**. **

**A shadow passed over my father's face. "You've had enough sorrow for one day. Ask Chiron when you return to camp." **

**"Return to camp? But you're in trouble here. I want to help!" **

**"You can't, Percy. Your job is elsewhere." **

Annabeth frowned, but didn't stop glaring at the ground intensely.

**I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I looked at Tyson for backup. **

**My brother chewed his lip. "Daddy… Percy can fight with a sword. ****He is good."**

Travis rolled his eyes, "Of course he is! He took the title of Best Swordsman in 300 years in a day. We'd all be dead if he wasn't good."

Everyone who knew Percy nodded, agreeing silently.

Jason had a glint of jealousy in his electric-blue eyes, but the glint vanished as soon as it came.

**"I know that," Poseidon said gently. **

**"Dad, I can help," I said. "I know I can. You're not going to hold out here much longer." **

**A fireball launched into the sky from behind the enemy lines. I thought Poseidon would deflect it or something, but it landed on the outer corner of the yard and exploded, sending mermen tumbling through the water. Poseidon winced as if he'd just been stabbed. **

By this point, even Athena looked worried for Poseidon... and that's saying something.

**"Return to camp," he insisted. "And tell Chiron it is time." **

**"For what?" **

"For your death," Leo said in a creepy voice, his eyes were wide and an evil smile was playing on his lips. Everyone scooted away from him and stared at him weirdly.

"What? Sheesh, take a joke," Leo muttered, fiddling with an almost complete iPhone.

**"You must hear the prophecy. The entire prophecy." **

**I didn't need to ask him which prophecy. I'd been hearing about the "Great Prophecy" for years, but nobody would ever tell me the whole thing. All I knew was that I was supposed to make a decision that would decide the fate of the world – but no pressure. **

The demigods smiled slightly at Percy's sarcasm.

**"What if this is the decision?" I said. "Staying here to fight, or leaving? What if I leave and you…" **

**I couldn't say die. Gods weren't supposed to die, but I'd seen it happen. Even if they didn't die, they could be reduced to nearly nothing, exiled, imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus like Kronos had been. **

Nico frowned while Annabeth spoke sadly, "It was almost heartbreaking, the expression on Grover's face when we watched Pan fade,"

Hermes sat up, "You found my son?"

Annabeth and Nico nodded sadly.

"In Daedalus' Labyrinth."

Hermes frowned but stayed quiet.

**"Percy, you must go," Poseidon insisted. "I don't know what your final decision will be, but your fight lies in the world above. If nothing else, you must warn your friends at camp. Kronos knew your plans. You have a spy. We will hold here. We have no choice." **

**Tyson gripped my hand desperately. "I will miss you, brother!" **

**Watching us, our father seemed to age another ten years. "Tyson, you have work to do as well, my son. They need you in the armory." **

**Tyson pouted some more. **

**"I will go," he sniffled. He hugged me so hard he almost cracked my ribs. "Percy, be careful! Do not let monsters kill you dead!" **

The demigods who had met Tyson smiled amused at his bad grammar.

"So adorable," Aphrodite squealed.

**I tried to nod confidently, but it was too much for the big guy. He sobbed and swam away toward the armory, where his cousins were fixing spears and swords. **

**"You should let him fight, " I told my father. "He hates being stuck in the armory. Can't you tell?" **

**Poseidon shook his head. "It is bad enough I must send you into danger. Tyson is too young. I must protect him."**

**"****You should trust him," I said. "Not try to protect him."**

**Poseidon's eyes flared. I thought I'd gone too far, but then he looked down at the mosaic and his shoulders sagged. On the tiles, the mermaid guy in the craw-fish chariot was coming closer to the palace.**

"I would never hurt any of my children," Poseidon muttered, a bit offended.

Hades heard him and told him, "We know, you're too nice for your own good, Sushi Roll."

The demigods snorted in laughter at the nickname.

"Oooooh! Can't wait to use that one on Percy!" Nico yelled enthusiastically, looking like his ten-year old self again. Travis took out a small notepad and began writing. Nobody questioned them.

**"Oceanus approaches," my father said. "I must meet him in battle."**

**I'd never been scared for a god before, but I didn't see how my dad could face this Titan and win.**

**"I will hold," Poseidon promised. "I will not give up my domain. Just tell me, Percy, do you still have the birthday gift I gave you last summer?"**

The half-bloods stared at the book in jealousy. _They _never got birthday gifts.

"Percy is one lucky Sushi Taco." Nico muttered.

Everyone stared at him.

"What?" Nico asked defensively.

"Sushi Taco?" Clarisse asked, blinking.

"Yeah... well, I mean, I get the 'sushi' part, but _taco_?" Jason asked confused and a little amused.

Nico shrugged awkwardly and told Connor to read.

Connor muttered, "I want a sushi taco," before continuing reading.

**I nodded and pulled out my camp necklace. It had a bead for every summer I'd been at Camp Half-Blood, but since last year, I'd also kept a sand dollar on the cord.**

**My father had given it to me for my fifteenth birthday. He'd told me that I would know when to "spend it," but so far, I hadn't figured out what he meant. All I knew was that it didn't fit the vending machines in the school cafeteria.**

"See? He's a stupid sushi taco!" Nico yelled.

"Nico, just- just don't." Annabeth said, shaking her head.

**"The time is coming," he promised. "With luck, I will see you for your birthday next week, and we will have a proper celebration."**

**He smiled, and for a moment, I saw the old light in his eyes.**

**Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us, like an inky storm was rolling in. Thunder crackled, which would've been impossible underwater. A huge icy presence was approaching us. I sensed a wave of fear roll through the armies below us.**

Poseidon looked scared for his realm. The two other brothers, though would never admit it, were also as worried as Poseidon.

**"****I must assume my true godly form," Poseidon said. "Go – and good luck, my son."**

**I wanted to encourage him, to hug him or something. But I knew better than to stick around. When a god assumes his true form, the power is so great that any mortal looking on him will disintegrate.**

**"Good-bye, Father," I managed.**

Aphrodite sniffed, "So cute,"

**Then I turned away. I willed the ocean currents to air me. Water swirled around me, and I shot toward the surface at speeds that would've cause any normal human to pop like a balloon.**

"I like balloons... A lot." Hermes informed everyone.

"We don't care, Hermes," Artemis said sighing. She rolled her eyes, '_boys_' she thought with disgust.

**When I looked back, all I could see were flashes of green and blue as my father fought the Titan, and the sea itself was torn apart by the two armies. **

"That's the end," Connor told everyone, putting the book down. Poseidon stood up from his throne, "Alright, TO ATLANTIS!" he yelled, and ran out of the room, everyone following him with excitement.

**A/N: thanks for reading. Review. If I get 20+ reviews I'll update sooner than next Monday.~ **

**-Fascination~ xoxo. **


	3. Atlantis

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO and HoO... Uncle Rick does.

**omg guise i got a new haircut! yay! oh and i would like to say that bookworm131998 is my co-writer now.. (: **

I'm thinking about writing a Hermes/Percy one-shot for _The Guilty Desire of the Gods _and make it Rated M... would you guys read it? Leave your answer in a review. Oh and it's Friday... update day ;D

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The half-bloods and Olympians followed Poseidon out of the throne room and to Hera's garden, where there was a small, but beautiful and crystal clear lake.

"Alright, all you need to do, is step on the lake, as soon as your skin makes contact with the lake water, you will be transported to Atlantis, with air bubbles around your body so you can breath but move easily as normal." Poseidon informed everyone.

"Oh and also, we're going to my palace in Atlantis, the one from the year 2011. I want to see how much it has changed in the future."

The gods and demigods nodded and stepped into the lake. There were flashes of golden light and where the gods and demigods had previously stood, was now empty. Poseidon nodded and stepped into the lake, himself.

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The Olympians and the demigods re-appeared in front of a magnificent sea-green and aquamarine castle, right in the middle of the courtyard where there were mermen and mermaids swimming around the city casually, making conversations with other merfolks. The merfolks turned to stare at the gods and half-bloods but didn't bow to any of them. Poseidon appeared in front of the gods and smiled at his people. The merfolks bowed down to their king. Poseidon waved at his people, signaling to stand up and walked towards his palace with everyone else following behind him.

The gods and demigods noticed that there was a thin layer of some sort of bubble surrounding their figures, making them walk easier and letting them breath freely. They also noticed the cold glares that the merfolks sent them. Poseidon noticed and sighed as he ushered the gods and half-bloods inside his palace and closing the majestic golden doors covered in precious gems.

"Sorry about that, my people don't welcome outsiders," Poseidon told them. Everyone nodded and followed Poseidon as he started giving them a brief tour.

A merman swam up to the group and smiled at Poseidon, the gods immediately recognized him as Triton, "Father, what are these _half-bloods _doing here?" Triton put an emphasis on 'half-bloods', spitting it out as if it were the worst of all insults. The demigods were offended but decided to keep quiet, not wanting to make an enemy of the god.

"They are here because we were reading a book about your brother, in his point of view, about what happened in the Second Titan War and-" Poseidon was cut short when Triton interrupted his explanation, "Wait, _Percy_? Do you have any news about him?" Triton asked worriedly.

"Unfortunately, not yet, son." Poseidon responded sadly, looking down at his tail that had transformed from feet to a nice merman tail the moment he made contact with salt water. Annabeth and the rest of the demigods had informed them of Percy's disappearance during their break. Even though Poseidon was from the past, Triton didn't seem to notice.

"Oh. Well, in that case, I shall get going then. Mother is at Seaside's Cafe and will be back within half an hour, don't run into her, you know how she gets when outsiders arrive."

Poseidon nodded and watched as his son swam away and out the door.

"Well," Poseidon boomed, clapping his hands excitedly, "Feel free to look around, I've got some exploring to do myself, seeing as my city has changed a lot, thanks to Annabeth." Said demigod smiled and blushed.

The gods and demigods nodded eagerly and all of them walked away in different directions, deciding what to look at first.

* * *

Annabeth, Nico, Leo, Piper, and Jason walked together to explore inside the palace, further. Annabeth smiled and explored as if she had grown up in the palace her whole life.

"How do you know your way through here?" Leo asked Annabeth, falling into step next to her, on her right.

"I designed this palace," she stated simply and walked faster to the second floor of the castle, leaving the Lost Hero trio walking slowly behind her, their mouths agape. Nico walked next to Annabeth chuckling, on her left.

"Percy's room?" Nico suggested. Annabeth nodded, "Race ya?" Nico grinned and took off at the same time as Annabeth.

The lost hero trio ran behind them, trying to catch up with them. They came to a halt in front of navy blue double-doors that reached up to the ceiling and that was engraved with pearls and emeralds and had carvings of pegasi and small clown fish. In the middle of the door, on a bronze tag was engraved **Percy J. **in silver letters.

Annabeth turned the knob and pushed the double doors open, revealing a room as big as a football field. It was the only room in the palace that had air. The demigods noticed that the water stayed out of the room, as if it was being held back by an invisible wall. The five demigods walked into the room, looking around in awe. To the left side on the wall connected to the wall of the door, there was a gigantic flat screen TV, like the ones you see in theaters, in front of it was a white leather couch that was in the shape of an 'L' and that had twelve seats. On the right side, there was the biggest bed any of them had seen, covered in silk blue sheets and about twenty silk pillows. In front of the door, there was a window that led out to a balcony and overlooked the whole city of Atlantis. Next to the plasma TV, there was another set of double doors, leading to the bathroom, and on the left side of the bed, there was a see-through door that was the closet. The closet was as big as a store at the mall. On the right side of the bed, there was another door that said: **Όπλα**- meaning 'Weapons' in Greek.

The floor was oak wood and the walls were painted a light aquamarine. The walls had pictures of Percy and his friends and family, including Amphitrite and Triton. On the wall where the door was, on the left side, there was a glass desk that had a black Toshiba laptop that was opened, but the screen was black. Next to the laptop, there was an iPhone that had the symbol of Hephaestus instead of the apple.

The sheets on the bed were unmade and random pieces of clothing were sprawled on the floor, making the room look like it really belonged to a teenage boy. In front of the door, on the floor, there was a red dagger lying randomly. Annabeth stepped into the room first and picked up the red dagger that had a boar engraved on the handle.

The rest of the demigods entered the room and looked around, still in awe.

"Damn, it's better and bigger than my room in the underworld." Nico muttered, but the four demigods heard him. Five seconds later, the rest of the demigods along with the gods.

"Wow, can I live here, Uncle P.?" Apollo asked, his mouth slightly opened.

Poseidon shook his head 'no' and sat on the edge of Percy's messy bed, his previous tail now morphing back into human feet.

There was a green flash of light and a bubble on the ceiling. The bubble popped loudly and from the ceiling fell a boy with messy black hair and sea-green eyes. He was wearing a black V-neck shirt and black faded skinny jeans and black & green vans along a royal purple cape on his shoulders; there was also a girl with silky black hair, dressed in a golden dress with golden sandals and also, a royal purple cape on the girl's shoulders. Both of them fell from the ceiling and landed with a soft 'thud' on the silky-blue bed.

"O irrumabo! Quid est semper me?" the boy muttered in Latin, his voice deep but soothing. He sat up, rubbing his head and looked around in surprise. The girl had fallen with her head on his lap and made no effort to get up, responding to the boy, "Percy vigilate lingua! Non maledictionem vel ego dico Lupa!"

Percy rolled his eyes and got off of the bed, noticing that everyone was staring at them.

"Uh, hello?" he said timidly.

"PERCY!" everyone yelled, running to him, except the lost hero trio, who just stared at him in admiration, finally meeting the hero that they aspired to be.

"Hi guys..." Percy said, rubbing the back of his neck, "What are we doing here?"

Annabeth stepped up and hugged Percy tightly, with tears running down her face, then she wiped them away and explained everything to Percy and the girl.

Jason was staring at the girl with interest, he had a distant memory of her, but it was blurry.

When Annabeth was done talking, the girl stepped up to Annabeth and held her hand out, "Reyna Regina, daughter of Bellona, praetor of the Twelfth Legion." Reyna spoke proudly, smiling at Annabeth. Annabeth introduced herself and shook her hand. Everyone else introduced themselves to the newcomer.

"Jason Grace, nice seeing you again," Reyna told Jason in a cold voice, her brown eyes were hard. Jason flinched and looked down at his feet. Piper glared at Reyna, the Roman rolled her eyes and held Percy's hand. Annabeth took notice of this and glared hard at her. Reyna sent her a friendly smile but didn't let go of Percy's hand.

"Well, it's time to go back to Olympus, back to year 2000." Apollo spoke, while everyone else nodded their heads in agreement. Each demigod held on to a god's hand and together, they all flashed back to the throne room.

Leo picked up the book that was laying on the couch and flipped to chapter three, "**I Get a Sneak Peak At My Death**,"

Reyna stared at Percy's face worriedly and he squeezed her hand, sending her a reassuring smile. Annabeth watched this from the other side of Percy with jealousy in her stormy gray eyes, as did Jason with anger in his blue eyes.

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Watcha think? Tension and drama are building up. REVIEW.


	4. Chapter 3

Heyheyhey! Thanks for the awesome comments. I loved every single one of the reviews. Haven't gotten any flames yet, only compliments and lots of favorites and alerts. Here is chapter 3.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus, Uncle Rick does. I also don't own the songs mentioned in this chapter. **

I would also like to inform you that I am moving to Texas this Sunday and I most likely won't have Internet when I get to my new house. Due to this, I might not be able to update for a couple of weeks but I will try and see if I can find someone who can post for me, as in, I write the chapters on my phone, and I e-mail it to someone trustworthy so that he/she can log into my account and put up the chapter. No promises though. That's all, and enjoy the chapter.

**Please join us for Blackout Day on July 27th. The Blackout means that there will be no reading, no posting, no PM, and not visiting this website. There have been too many stories being deleted and reported and it's getting on many writer's nerves. Please help spread the word. Even if you're not a writer. Help us and block the users who think they're the 'Fan fiction Police' such as Agent of Loki because he/she is going around reporting stories such as this one and it's pissing me off, my story hasn't been reported but some of my favorite ones have because they have son lyrics and 'reading the books' plots. Thank you again. **

**FOR MORE INFO PM: IkutoisSmexy**

**~sαdìє вяєєzγ. **

**SONG I'M LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW: **Best I Ever Had by Drake.

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"**I Get a Sneak Peek at My Death" **Leo read.

Reyna stared at Percy's face worriedly and he squeezed her hand, sending her a reassuring smile. Annabeth watched this from the other side of Percy with jealousy in her stormy gray eyes, as did Jason with anger in his blue eyes.

Annabeth huffed and crossed her arms, turning her head away from Percy and the Roman.

**If you want to be popular at Camp Half-Blood, don't come back from a mission with bad news. **

"Camp Half-Blood, huh?" Reyna muttered and Percy nodded enthusiastically. Annabeth rolled her eyes. Aphrodite watched this carefully. She just adores love triangles.

**Word of my arrival spread as soon as I walked out of the ocean.**

**Our beach is on the North Shore of Long Island, it's enchanted so most people can't even see it.** **People don't just **_**appear**_** on the beach unless they're demigods or gods or really, really lost pizza guys. (It's happened – but that's another story.)**

Reyna and the Lost Hero trio raised their eyebrows in amusement.

"Stolls." Nico muttered smiling. Reyna had just noticed Nico and she narrowed her eyes, glaring coldly at him, giving him the _you-are-so-dead _look. Nico looked like he was about to pee his pants, if it wasn't for Percy putting an arm around Reyna soothingly. Annabeth glared at the floor with bitterness.

**Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin.** **When he spotted me, he got so excited he fell out of his tree.**

Travis smirked and snickered at his brother who was blushing lightly.

**Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet me. Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humor.**

Connor gave the same crooked smile to everyone in the room.

"Check your pockets," Percy told Reyna as he checked his own pockets to find out his pen was missing. Percy turned towards Connor and gave him the wolf stare and held out his right hand expectantly. Reyna also discovered that her wallet was missing but she sat up straighter and took out her dagger, playing with it casually while eyeing Connor out of the corner of her eye. Connor gulped and gave them their possessions back, careful to not get too near Reyna.

**He's a pretty nice guy,** **but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around, and do not, under any circumstances; give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it.**

Reyna smirked slightly at Percy, who rolled his eyes at her and punched her arm playfully.

**He's got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother, Travis, which is the only way I can tell them apart.** **They are both so unlike my old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes.**

"Mercury, right?" Reyna asked. Percy nodded and said, "Damn Reyna, you're so smart, are you sure you're not a daughter of Minerva?" Reyna blushed and shook her head 'no'. "I'm pretty suuuuuure I'm not a daughter of Minerva, Mr. Oh-son-of-Neptune."

"Poseidon!" Annabeth snapped, glaring daggers at Reyna.

Percy stared at Annabeth with disbelief, "What's the matter with you, Annabeth?"

Annabeth turned her icy glare towards Percy and raised her hand and slapped him across the cheek, leaving a red hand mark on his face. Reyna stood up and took out her Imperial Gold dagger and raised it, "Don't. Touch. Him." she said in a low and deadly voice.

"Oh why do you care, filthy _Roman." _Annabeth said 'Roman' like it was the worst insult there was.

"Ladies! Break it up. Reyna, it's fine. Just a slap. I'm fine, I promse." Percy said and immediatly Reyna's eyes softened and she nodded, sitting down and putting away her dagger.

Annabeth glared harder and tears streamed down her face, "I KNEW YOU WOULD GET A NEW GIRLFRIEND!" Athena stood up, but Aphrodite held her down, enjoying the show.

"What? Reyna, my- what? You think Reyna is my _girlfriend?" _Percy asked, he looked like he was trying not to laugh.

"It sure looks like it!"

Reyna and Percy stared at each other and then burst into a fit of laughter.

"Annabeth-ha you-re so funny!" Percy gasped out in between laughs. Everyone else in the room was confused and speechless. _what?_

"Ah. Annabeth, Reyna is my old best friend. We used to be best friends when we were in fifth grade, then I had to move to Yancy for sixth and we never say each other again until Circe's Island, but we didn't recognize each other. Then, after I was made praetor, we talked about our pasts and we found out about our old friendship." Percy explained, regaining his composure and sitting down again between Annabeth and Reyna, putting his hand on top of Annabeth's. Reyna was nodding, proving Percy's words.

"Oh," Annabeth said blushing slightly. Percy gave her a heart-melting smile and kissed her cheek lightly, making her blush. Jason watched this and his fists clenched at the thought of Percy and Reyna being _best friends. _She was _his _best friend!

Leo cleared his throat and began reading again.

**"Percy!" he yelled. "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?"**

Hephaestus and Percy frowned.

**Then he saw my expression and his smile melted. "Oh, no. Poor Silena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out…"**.

**Together we climbed the sand dunes. A few hundred yards away, people were already streaming towards us, smiling and excited.**

_**Percy's back, **_**they were probably thinking. **_**He's saved the day! Maybe he brought souvenirs!**_

Apollo and Hermes chuckled lightly but then stopped when Percy galred at them heatedly.

**I stopped at the dining pavilion and waited for them. No sense rushing down there to tell them what a loser I was.**

"Embrace your loser-ness." Reyna said, nodding. "Is 'loser-ness' a word?" Percy asked her confused. Reyna rolled her eyes but smiled, "It is now." Percy nodded and took out a small sea-green and blue book and wrote something in it.

"What's that?" Artemis asked him.

"Underwater Dictionary." Percy responded simply while still writing.

Reyna took it from his grasp once he was done writing and read out loud, _"Loser-ness: meaning being a loser and embracing it. Ex: Reyna Regina."_

Reyna glared at Percy, "I am NOT a loser!"

"Yeah. Keep thinking that," Percy told her and smirked, then took the book from her and put it back in his back pocket.

The gods watched this exchange amused, as did the campers, except Annabeth who was slightly jealous and Jason who was glaring daggers at the two.

**I gazed across the valley and tried to remember how Camp Half-Blood looked the first time I ever saw it. That seemed like a bajillion years ago.**

"Bajillion isn't a word," Athena said rolling her cold grey eyes. Poseidon raised an eyebrow and took out a book similar to Percy's.

"I beg to differ. It's in the dictionary." Poseidon told her, flipping open to a page and handed it to the Wisdom Goddess.

Athena took the dictionary and read loudly: _"Gajillion: More than a million but less than a zillion." _

Poseidon and Percy nodded approvingly. "You can keep that copy, I have more," the sea god told her. Athena rolled her eyes but nodded.

**From the dining pavilion, you could see pretty much everything. Hills ringed the valley.**

**On the tallest, Half-Blood Hill, Thalia's pine tree stood with the Golden Fleece hanging from its branches.**

Reyna looked impressed.

**The guard dragon Peleus was so big now I could see him from here – curled around the tree trunk, sending up smoke signals as he snored.**

"You have dragons, we have unicorns," Reyna muttered rolling her eyes in envy.

"Yeah... but unicorns are cool too. Except that one pink unicorn. He's always hitting on me and I keep on telling him that I'm not interested but he won't leave me alone!" Percy voiced.

Hermes and Apollo snorted with laughter. "A gay, pink unicorn was hitting on you?" Nico asked, laughing lightly. Percy nodded and glared at the floor muttering something about 'straight' and 'pink unicorns.' Everyone else was having a hard time trying to control their laughter.

**To my right spread the woods. To my left, the canoe lake glittered and the climbing wall glowed from the lava pouring down its side. Twelve cabins – one for each Olympian god – Made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area. Farther south were the strawberry fields, **

"Strawberries," Katie said, smiling, while Travis sat next to her, smelling her strawberry-smelling hair without her knowing. His brother threw him a small smirk.

**the armory and the four-story Big House with its sky blue paint job and its bronze eagle weather-vane. In some ways, the camp hadn't changed. But you couldn't see the war by looking at the buildings or the fields. You see it in all the faces of the demigods and satyrs and naiads coming up the hill.**

**There weren't as many at camp as four summers ago. Some had left and never come back. Some had died fighting. Others – we tried not to talk about them – had gone over to the enemy.**

Reyna nodded in understanding. Camp Jupiter had gone through the same thing.

**The ones who were still here were battle-hardened and weary. There was little laughter at camp these days. Even the Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks. It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.**

Hermes, Apollo, the Stolls, and Leo frowned.

**Chiron galloped into the pavilion first, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion from the waist down. His beard had grown wilder over the summer. He wore a green T-shirt that said My Other Car Is a Centaur and a bow slung over his back.**

"Oh, I get it! Clever," Reyna said, smiling and nodding approvingly.

Everyone else except Athena and Annabeth looked confused but didn't say anything.

**"Percy!" he said. "Thank the gods. But where…"**

**Annabeth rain in right behind him and I'll admit my heart did a little relay race in my chest when I saw her.**

Annabeth and Percy blushed beet red while the campers all gave them knowing smiles.

**It's not that she tried to look good.**

Reyna poked his side and smirked at him.

**We'd been doing so many combat missions lately, she hardly brushed her curly blond hair anymore, and she didn't care what clothes she was wearing – ****usually the same old orange camp T-shirt and jeans, and once in a while her bronze armor.**

**Her eyes were stormy gray. Most of the time we couldn't get through a conversation without trying to strangle each other. Still, just seeing her made me feel fuzzy in the head.**

"Aw. So cute," Reyna whispered in Percy's ear, her tone was teasing. Percy blushed and put his hand over her mouth.

"AGH!" Percy yelled, standing up, "SHE LICKED ME!" he yelled again, wiping his hand on Reyna's head.

"HEY!" she yelled back at him, glaring slightly. "It's your spit, not mine! I dunn' want it!"

Reyna stood up and licked her hand and then rubbed it all over his face. Percy looked horrified and then he took off his cape and rubbed his face in it, cleaning him of Reyna's spit.

Reyna rolled her eyes and and sat down, patting the spot next to her teasingly. Percy shook his head and made Annabeth scoot down to sit in his previous spot, and then he sat on Annabeth's spot. Everyone else was amused.

**Last summer, before Luke had turned into Kronos and everything went sour, there had been a few times when I thought maybe… well, that we might get past the strangle-each-other phase.**

**"What happened?" She grabbed my arm. "Is Luke –"**

Annabeth smiled at Percy and grabbed his hand, giving him a peck on the lips, as if saying _'I'm over him, seaweed brain'. _

**"The ship blew up," I said. "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where –"**

**Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which wasn't like her.**

The campers who knew Silena looked down, sadly.

**"Where's Charlie?" she demanded, looking around like he might be hiding.**

"I wish," Percy muttered, his mood darkening.

**I glanced at Chiron helplessly.**

**The old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House –"**

**"No," she muttered. "No. **_**No.**_**"**

Aphrodite looked like she was on the verge of tears, "Κακή κόρη μου," she said in Greek, meaning '_My poor daughter. '_

**She started to cry, and the rest of us stood around, too stunned to speak. We'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst. With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stole the anchor for the entire camp.**

The campers frowned again, it was exactly how they felt when Percy went missing, too.

**Finally Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward. She put her arm around Silena. They had one of the strangest friendships ever – a daughter of the war of god and a daughter of the love goddess – but ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her first boyfriend, Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard.**

"That's so sweet," Demeter said.

**Clarisse was dressed in her blood red combat armor, her brown hair tucked into a bandanna. She was as big and beefy as a rugby player, with a permanent scowl on her face, but she spoke gently to Silena.**

**"Come on, girl," she said. "Let's get to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."**

"That's my daughter!" Ares said proudly, smiling at Clarisse who was blushing. Chris smiled at her warmly and put an arm around her. Ares glared at Chris, but Chris didn't remove his arm from around her.

**Everyone turned and wandered off in twos and threes, heading back to the cabins. Nobody was excited to see me now. Nobody wanted to hear about the blown-up ship.**

**Only Annabeth and Chiron stayed behind.**

"Of course," Nico said, rolling his eyes at Annabeth.

**Annabeth wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."**

"Us too." Will said, smiling at Percy.

**"Thanks," I said. "Me too."**

"You guys think alike, huh?" Leo interrupted himself.

"σκάσε Valdez" Will muttered, blushing. *_[Shut up Valdez]*_

"Should I be offended or..?" Percy asked loudly, making Annabeth jump. She smacked him and he shut his mouth.

**Chiron put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Percy. Will you tell us what happened?"**

**I didn't want to go through it again, but I told them the story, including my dream about the Titans.**

**I left out the detail about Nico. Nico had made me promise not to tell anybody about his plan until I made up my mind and the plan was so scary I didn't mind keeping it a secret.**

Nico and Percy avoided eye-contact with anyone else and pretended they didn't notice the stares.

**Chiron gazed down at the valley. "We must call a war council immediately, to discuss this spy, and other matters."**

**"Poseidon mentioned another threat," I said. "Something even bigger than the **_**Princess Andromeda.**_

_"Buns out, wiener, but I gotta keep an eye out for Selenerrrr. Beauty, Beauty and the Beast. Beauty from the east, beautiful confessions of the priest. Beast, beauty from the streets, we don't get deceased. Every time a beauty on the beats." _Leo rapped suddenly, ear buds in his ears, he was bobbing his head to the beat.

Everyone stared at him weirdly.

"Leo.." Piper asked cautiously, taking out his ear buds from his ears. "Yeah?"

"Were you just rapping Nicki Minaj?"

Leo blushed, "I was doing that out loud?"

Everyone nodded, too shocked and weirded out to say anything.

"Oh, well you see..." Leo started, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, blushing scarlet. "I fixed my ipod so that it's untrackable by monsters and I was listening to music on Youtube, from the future, year 2012 to be exact..."

Jason raised an eyebrow while everyone else looked impressed, especially Hephaestus, Jason then asked: "What song was it?"

Leo blushed harder and mumbled something inaudible.

"I'm sorry- what?" Jason asked again.

"_Beauty and a Beat_, good song." Leo said, giving Jason one of his ear buds and restarting the song. Five seconds into the song and both of them were bobbing their heads to the beat. **[****A/N: Flipping amazing song. Amazing beat too].**

Jason started singing lowly without realizing it, "_Show you off, tonight I wanna show you off, aye,aye,aye, what you got, a billion could've never bought, aye,aye,aye_."

Leo and Jason started snapping their fingers to the beat and stood up dancing.

"BODY ROCK! GIRL I CAN FEEL YOUR BODY ROCK!" Leo yelled, shaking his butt to the beat a little too... enthusiastically. Jason was doing the same. Two minutes later, they stopped when the song ended. Jason casually handed the ear bud to Leo nodding approvingly, "Good song,"

Everyone in the throne room was staring wide-eyed.

Piper spoke after a moment, "Uhm, that was... nice?" _Weird, _she wanted to say. She shook her head and took the book from Leo and started reading, trying to pretend that hadn't happened, meanwhile, the Stolls stopped recording the event and grinned at each other thinking: _Perfect __Blackmail. _

**I thought it might be that challenge the Titan had mentioned in my dream."**

**Chiron and Annabeth exchanged looks, like they knew something I didn't. I hated when they did that.**

Annabeth smiled smugly.

**"We will discuss that also," Chiron promised.**

**"One more thing." I took a deep breath. "When I talked to my father, he said to tell you it's time. I need to know the full prophecy."**

**Chiron's shoulders sagged, but he didn't look surprised. "I've dreaded this day. Very well. Annabeth, we will show Percy the truth – all of it. Let's go to the attic."**

"The Attic." Reyna repeated, an eyebrow raised.

**I'd been to the Big House attic three times before, which was three times more than I wanted to.**

Apollo huffed, feeling offended.

**A ladder led up from the top of the staircase. I wondered how Chiron was going to get up there, being half horse and all, but he didn't try.**

**"You know where it is," he told Annabeth. "Bring it down, please."**

**Annabeth nodded. "Come on, Percy."**

**The sun was setting outside, so the attic was even darker and creepier than usual.**

**Old hero trophies were stacked everywhere – dented shields, pickled heads in jars from various monsters, a pair of fuzzy dice on a bronze plaque that read: **_**STOLEN FROM CHRUSAOR'S HONDA CIVIC, BY GUS, SON OF HERMES, 1988.**_

The Stolls grinned at the mention of their father.

**I picked up a curved bronze sword so badly bent it looked like the letter 'M'. I could still see green stains on the metal from the magical poison that used to cover it.**

**The tag was dated last summer. It read: **_**Scimitar of Kampê, destroyed in the Battle of the Labyrinth.**_

**"You remember Briares throwing those boulders?" I asked. Annabeth gave me a grudging smile. "And Grover causing a Panic?"**

**We locked eyes. I thought of a different time last summer, under Mount St. Helens, when Annabeth thought I was going to die and she kissed me.**

Annabeth blushed and Percy just smiled, pulling in Annabeth for a short kiss, which left both of them breathless.

**She cleared her throat and looked away. "Prophecy."**

**"Right." I put down the scimitar. "Prophecy."**

"I LOVE THAT SONG!" Nico yelled suddenly.

Chris raised an eyebrow, "What song?"

"_A Prophecy_ by _Asking Alexandria_..." Nico said in a 'duh' voice and snorting his eyes.

"Uh, never heard of it.. must be an emo band," Will said.

"IT'S NOT EMO!" Surprisingly, it was Percy who yelled. Percy blushed and looked down.

**We walked over to the window. On a three-legged stool sat the Oracle – a shriveled female mummy in a tie-dyed dress.** **Tufts of black hair clung to her skull. Glassy eyes stared out of her leathery face. Just looking at her made my skin crawl.**

"Stupid Hades," Apollo mumbled, glaring at Hades, who shifted uncomfortably.

**If you wanted to leave camp during the summer, it used to be you had to come out here to get a quest. This summer that rule had been tossed. Campers left all the time on combat missions.** **We had no choice if we wanted to stop Kronos.**

**Still, I remembered too well the strange green mist – the Spirit of the Oracle – that lived inside the mummy. She looked lifeless now, but whenever she spoke a prophecy, she moved.**

**Sometimes fog gushed out of her mouth and created strange shapes. Once, she'd even left the attic and taken a little zombie stroll into the woods to deliver a message.**

Percy and the campers who were there when that happened, shuddered at the reminder. It was not a good memory.

**I wasn't sure what she'd do for the "Great Prophecy." I had expected her to start tap dancing or something.**

Some eyebrows were raised and some even questioned Percy's sanity, but kept quiet.

**But she just sat there like she was dead – which she was.**

"Your mind is messed up," Reyna told Percy, who mock-glared at her half-heartily, his lips twitching into a smile along with Reyna's.

**"I never understood this, I whispered.**

**"What?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Why it's a mummy."**

Cue glares at Hades.

**"Percy, she didn't used to be a mummy. For thousands of years the spirit of the Oracle lived inside a beautiful maiden.** **The spirit would be passed on from generation to generation. Chiron told me **_**she**_** was like that fifty years ago." Annabeth pointed at the mummy. "But she was the last."**

"Not anymore," muttered Annabeth.

**"What happened?"**

**Annabeth started to say something, then apparently changed her mind. "Let's just do our job and get out of here."**

"You didn't know, did you?" Percy asked Annabeth teasingly. She blushed and said nothing.

Nico gaped at the couple, "How come you don't punch _him _when he says stuff like that, but punch everyone else?"

Percy smiled smugly, "I'm her boyfriend and best friend. IN YOUR FACE!" He suddenly yelled and stood up, his index finger touching Nico's nose. Nico stared at him in disbelief and Percy took that as a cue to sit down and avoid eye contact with everyone.

"Idiot." Clarisse muttered and Chris chuckled lightly.

"_Honey got some boobies like wow oh wow!" _Leo sang. Jason was tapping his foot on the tiled floor still listening to music with Leo.

Hephaestus looked mortified and put his head in his hands, while everyone else chuckled.

Jason sang along too, "_Sexy from head to toe, oh oh oh... so many ways to love ya.'" _Zeus blushed at this and looked away when everyone else also starting snickering and laughing openly at his embarrassment. Leo and Jason seemed not to notice, too busy singing lowly with their eyes closed and smiles on their faces, both bobbing their heads to the music.

Piper shook her head and read:

**I looked nervously at the Oracle's withered face. "So what now?"**

**Annabeth approached the mummy and held out her palms. "O Oracle, the time is at hand. I ask for the Great Prophecy."**

**I braced myself, but the mummy didn't move. Instead Annabeth approached and unclasped one of its necklaces. I'd never paid too much attention to its jewelry before.** **I figured it was just hippie love beads and stuff.**

Apollo glared at Percy but then stopped when Percy glared at him back, ten times worse.

**But when Annabeth turned toward me, she was holding a leather pouch – like a Native American medicine pouch on a cord braided with feathers.**

"_I'm damn precious, and hell yeah I'm a motherfucking princess!" _Leo and Jason sang in synch and then stopped when they felt the stares of everyone. They opened their eyes slowly to meet the amused stares of the gods and campers.

Clarisse raised an eyebrow, "So you guys are princesses, huh? I knew it."

That was it. Everyone burst into laughter except the two guys who were blushing madly.

"I didn't know you listened to Avril Lavigne," Piper spoke, after the laughter died down. Jason pointed an accusing finger at Leo, "HIS IDEA!"

Piper shook her head again, not believing Jason and read again:

**She opened the bag and took out a roll of parchment no bigger than her pinky.**

**"No way," I said. "You mean all these years, I've been asking about this stupid prophecy and it's been right there around her neck?"**

"You must've felt stupid," Katie told Percy, he nodded back and then pouted.

**"The time wasn't right," Annabeth said. "Believe me, Percy, I read this when I was ten years old, and I still have nightmares about it."**

**"Great," I said. "Can I read it now?"**

**"Downstairs at the war council," Annabeth said. "Not in front of... you know."**

**I looked at the glassy eyes of the Oracle, and I decided not to argue. We headed downstairs to join the others.**

**I didn't know it then, but it would be the last time I ever visited the attic.**

The campers except Reyna all nodded happily.

**The senior counselors had gathered around the Ping-Pong table. Don't ask me why, but the rec room had become the camp's informal headquarters for war councils.**

**When Annabeth, Chiron and I came in, though, it looked more like a shouting match.**

**Clarisse was still in full battle gear. **

"When isn't she ever?" Travis asked.

Clarisse glared at him but said nothing.

**Her electric spear was strapped to her back. (Actually, her **_**second**_** electric spear, since I'd broken the first one. She called the spear "Maimer." Behind her back, everybody else called it "Lamer.") She had her boar-shaped helmet under on arm and had a knife at her belt.**

**She was in the midst of yelling at Michael Yew, t****he new head counselor for Apollo, which looked kind of funny since Clarisse was a foot taller. Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer.**

Apollo frowned and looked down at his godly feet sadly.

**Michael stood four feet six, with a pointy nose and scrunched-up features – either because he was scowling or because he spent too much time looking down the shaft of an arrow.**

**"It's **_**our**_** loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes so he could get in Clarisse's face. "If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!"**

"Kiss my quiver," Reyna repeated, an amused tone clear as day in her voice.

**Around the table, people were trying not to laugh – the Stoll brothers, Pollux from the Dionysus cabin, Katie Gardner from Demeter.**

**Even Jake Mason, the hastily appointed new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile.**

**Only Silena Beauregard didn't pay any attention. She sat beside Clarisse and stared vacantly at the Ping-Pong net. Her eyes were red and puffy. A cup of hot chocolate sat untouched in front of her.**

Aphrodite and Hephaestus frowned.

**It seemed unfair that she had to be here. I couldn't believe Clarisse and Michael standing over her, arguing about something as stupid as loot, when she'd just lost Beckendorf.**

Hephaestus nodded in agreement with Percy.

**"STOP IT!" I yelled. "What are you guys doing?"**

**Clarisse glowered at me. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk."**

**"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.**

**"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."**

"Good friends," Demeter said approvingly. She smiled at Clarisse, who smiled back slightly.

**"What are you talking about?" I demanded.**

**Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."**

"It was wonderful," Connor said, his eyes taking a dreamy look.

**"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.**

The campers were laughing quietly while Clarisse and Ares glared at everyone, but not accomplishing anything.

**"What issue?" I asked.**

**Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"**

**Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters –"**

**"Sure," Clarisse snapped. "Always more important matters than what Ares needs. We're just supposed to show up and fight when you need us, and not complain?"**

"I have a song stuck in my head," Leo whispered loudly to Jason, who gave him a questioning glance. "Which one?" He whispered back, just as loudly.

Leo tapped his iPod for a couple of seconds and then began singing, "_Somos su marido, ella, y yo!" _Leo sang along with the song. Jason looked confused, "I can't understand this,"

Leo nodded, "Cause it's in Spanish."

Jason rolled his eyes and took the ipod from Leo, changing to a song in English.

"There," Jason said after a few seconds, "What song you listenin' to?" Connor asked Jason, "_Boulevard of Broken Dreams_ by Green Day,"

"Thalia would like that," Annabeth and Percy said at the same time then stopped and stared at each other weirdly.

"Creepy." Travis whispered to Chris and Will, who nodded.

**"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.**

Travis smiled at his brother, giving him a high-five.

**Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr. D –"**

**"As you know," Chiron interrupted his tone slightly angry now,**

**"Our director, Dionysus, is busy with the war. He can't be bothered with this."**

**"I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counselors? Are **_**any**_** of you going to side with me?"**

**Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes.**

**"Fine." Clarisse turned to Silena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this when you've just lost... Anyway, I apologize. To **_**you**_**. Nobody else."**

Clarisse looked down in embarrassment, she realized she sounded pretty stupid back then. Chris put a comforting arm around her and smiled at her silently telling her _'It's okay'. _

**Silena didn't seem to register her words.**

**Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying."**

Reyna frowned at Clarisse but stayed quiet when Percy gave her a _don't-say-anything-unless-you-have-a-death-wish _look. She shut her mouth and turned back to the book.

**The counselors were all too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room.**

**Finally Michael Yew said, "Good riddance."**

**"Are you kidding?" Katie Gardner protested. "This is a disaster!"**

Demeter nodded, agreeing with her daughter.

**"She can't be serious," Travis said. "Can she?"**

**Chiron sighed. "Her pride has been wounded. She'll calm down eventually." But he didn't sound convinced.**

**I wanted to ask what the heck Clarisse was so mad about, but I looked at Annabeth and she mouthed the words **_**I'll tell you later.**_

**"Now," Chiron continued, "if you please, counselors. Percy has brought something I think you should hear. Percy – the Great Prophecy."**

Jason sat up and took the ear bud out of his ear, paying attention to the book fully. He was curious about this Great Prophecy.

**Annabeth handed me the parchment. It felt dry and old, and my fingers fumbled with the string. I uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, ****and began to read:**

**"**_**A half-blood of the eldest dogs…'**_

Percy smiled sheepishly at all the looks the gods were sending him.

**"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's**_** gods. **_**Not**_** dogs."**_

**"Oh, right," I said. Being dyslexic is one mark of a demigod, but sometimes I really hate it. The more nervous I am, the worse my reading gets.**

_**'A half-blood of the eldest gods… shall reach sixteen against all odds…'**_

Jason raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

**I hesitated, staring at the next lines. A cold feeling started in my fingers as if the paper was freezing.**

_**'And see the world in endless sleep,**_

Reyna gasped and looked at Percy with a worried look in her dark eyes.

_**The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.'**_

Reyna frowned, _'Calm down Reyna, he's alive. Your best friend is alive.' _she told herself.

**Suddenly Riptide seemed heavier in my pocket. A cursed blade? Chiron once told me Riptide had brought many people sorrow. Was it possible my own sword could get me killed?**

**And how could the world fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?**

The Lost Hero trio, the gods, and Reyna frowned.

**"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."**

**My mouth felt like it was full of sand, but I spoke the last two lines.**

"Sand, of course," Athena muttered, rolling her eyes.

_**'A single choice shall end his days.**_

Reyna looked like she was choking on something, then she shot a worried glance at Percy, who didn't meet her eyes.

_**Olympus to per – pursue –"**_

**"**_**Preserve**_**," ****Annabeth said gently. "It means to **_**save."**_

**"I know what it means," I grumbled. "**_**Olympus to preserve or raze."**_

"Jeez, so touchy," Nico said, trying to lift the mood. FAIL.

**The room was silent. Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"**

**"Not**_** raise**_**," ****Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but I was startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means **_**destroy**_**."**

**"Obliterate," Annabeth said. "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."**

**"Got it." My heart felt like lead. "Thanks."**

Jason was staring at Percy like he just fell from Mars... the planet not the god... -shudders-

**Everybody was looking at me – with concern, or pity, or maybe a little fear. **

**Chiron closed his eyes as if he were saying a prayer. In horse form, his head almost brushed the lights in the rec room.**

**"You see now, Percy, why we thought it best not to tell you the whole prophecy? You've had enough on your shoulders –"**

**"Without realizing I was going to die in the end anyways?" I said. "Yeah, I get it."**

Hera sent him a worried glance, she was growing quite fond of the son of Poseidon. He was modest and kindhearted. He was probably the only demigod she's ever liked besides the original Jason.

**Chiron gazed at me sadly. The guy was three thousand years old. He'd seen hundreds of heroes die. He might not like it, but he was used to it. He probably knew better than to try to reassure me.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said. "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die."**

**"Sure," I said. "**_**A single choice shall end his days.**_** That has tons of meanings, right?**

**"Maybe we can stop it," Jake Mason offered. **

**"**_**The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.**_** Maybe we could find the cursed blade and destroy it. Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?"**

**I hadn't thought about that, but it didn't matter if the cursed blade was Riptide or Kronos's scythe. Either way, I doubted we could stop the prophecy.**

**A blade was supposed to reap my soul. As a general rule, I preferred not to have my soul reaped.**

"That's right children, all of you should take Percy's example and follow that rule." Hermes told everyone in a business-like voice. He was dressed in a black business suit and he was wearing black nerd 3D glasses, with a tie that had little pink unicorns eating tacos and he had a briefcase on his lap, which was opened and it showed candy along with a couple of cans of coke, which he was drinking, sharing with Apollo.

"Love your tie," Apollo told his brother, with his mouth full of Snickers chocolate.

**"Perhaps we should let Percy think about these lines," Chiron said. "He needs time –"**

**"No." I folded up the prophecy and shoved it into my pocket. I felt defiant and angry, though I wasn't sure who I was angry with. "I don't need time. If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?"**

Hera frowned but then sent a warm smile at Percy.

"You would risk your life just to save Olympus?" Zeus asked him quietly. Percy nodded but didn't look at him, instead, he took interest in the hem of his cape. The gods all gaped at him and one though was running through everyone's mind: _A true hero. _

**Annabeth hands were shaking a little. She wouldn't meet my eyes.**

**"Let's move on," I said. "We've got other problems. We've got a spy."**

**Michael Yew scowled. "A spy?"**

**I told them what had happened on the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** – how Kronos had known we were coming, how he'd shown me the silver scythe pendant he'd used to communicate with someone at camp.**

**Silena started to cry again and Annabeth put an arm around her shoulders.**

Clarisse had a sad look in her eyes and then looked down at her lap.

**"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably, "We've suspected there might be a spy for years, right?** **Somebody kept passing information to Luke – like the location of the Golden Fleece a couple of years ago. It must be somebody who knew him well."**

**Maybe subconsciously, he glanced at Annabeth. She'd known Luke better than anyone, of course, but Connor looked away quickly. "Um, I mean, it could be anybody."**

"I'm sorry Annabeth, I didn't mean to blame you," Connor told her truthfully. Everyone in the room could hear the truth in his words and they all stared at him. "It's fine, it was a time of panic," she told him, and sent him a genuine smile, which he returned.

**"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers. She'd disliked them ever since they'd decorated the grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies. **

**"Like one of Luke's siblings."**

"Sorry about that," Katie told the Stolls, who nodded and sent her smiles that said _'Don't worry, no hard feelings'. _

**Travis and Connor both started arguing with her.**

**"Stop!" Silena banged the table so hard her hot chocolate spilled. "Charlie's dead and... and you're all arguing like little kids!" She put her head down and began to sob.**

**Hot chocolate trickled off the Ping-Pong table. Everybody looked ashamed. "She's right," Pollux said at last. "Accusing each other doesn't help.**

**We need to keep our eyes open for a sliver necklace with a scythe charm. If Kronos had one, the spy probably does too."**

**Michael Yew grunted. "We need to find this spy before we plan our next operation. Blowing up the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** won't stop Kronos forever."**

**"No indeed," Chiron said. "In fact his next assault is already on the way."**

**I scowled. "You mean the 'bigger threat' Poseidon mentioned?"**

**He and Annabeth looked at each other like, **_**it's time.**_** Did I mention I hate it when they do that?**

"Yes," Annabeth said smugly. Percy rolled his eyes at her but said nothing. Annabeth frowned and stayed quiet.

**"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned to camp. You needed a break with your… mortal friends."**

**Annabeth blushed. It dawned on me that she I'd been hanging out with Rachel, and I felt guilty.** **Then I felt angry that I felt guilty. I was allowed to have friends outside camp, right? It wasn't like…**

Annabeth frowned even more at the thought of Rachel and Percy _together. _

**"Tell me what's happened," I said.**

**Chiron picked up a bronze goblet from the snack table. He tossed water onto the hot plate were he usually melted nacho cheese. Steam billowed up, making a rainbow in the fluorescent lights.**

**Chiron fished a golden drachma out of his pouch, tossed it through the mist, and muttered, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show us the threat."**

**The mist shimmered. I saw the familiar image of a smoldering volcano – Mount St. Helens. As I watched, the side of the mountain exploded. Fire, ash, and lava rolled out.**

**A newscaster's voice was saying "- **_**even larger than last year's eruption, and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done."**_

**I knew about last year's eruption. I'd caused it. But this explosion was much worse. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole.**

**I hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly, ****because what I saw would've caused panic and riots across the entire United States.**

The gods frowned and clenched their fists in anger. Those damned titans. Oh how they hated them.

**The giant was bigger than anything I'd ever encountered. Even my demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could have used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat.**

**The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster was laughing.**

**"It's him," I said. "Typhoon."**

**I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like **_**No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us!**_

That broke all the tension in the room and sent everyone into fits of laughter, including the goddesses, but excluding Percy who smiled slightly but kept quiet. Everyone sent him worried looks but he ignored them.

**But no such luck. **

"'Course not," Reyna muttered. Percy sent her a small smile and Annabeth couldn't help but feel jealous. She couldn't make Percy smile at a time like this, but _Reyna _could?

**He simply nodded. "The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever face. He has been freed under the mountain at last.** **But this scene is from two days ago. **

_**Here**_** is what is happening today." Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains.** **Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path – ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys.**

_**"Monumental floods," **_**an announcer was saying. "**_**Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction." **_**The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest City.**

**I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm I could see the giant – just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block.**

**Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. **

"The gods to the rescue!" Leo yelled, "and the crowd goes wild! RAAAAAAH!"

The gods couldn't help but laugh lightly.

**I saw flashes of light, and I realized the giant was trying to swarm them. I squinted and thought I saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness. **

"APOLLO RULES!" Apollo yelled enthusiastically.

**The some kind of huge bird – a monstrous owl – dived in to attack the giant.**

"ATHENE FOREVER!" Annabeth stood up and threw her hands in the air and making a wave by herself, then Percy stood up along with her and did the wave along with his girlfriend and both of them started chanting Athena's name. Athena was blushing.

"Son, why are you cheering for my _nemesis?" _Poseidon asked his son, in a low tone and glared at Athena, who was smiling smugly.

Percy shrugged, "I dunno... I mean, we all know that she's gonna kick some major butt, right? No point in denying it." Athena smiled at Percy, who returned the smile.

"He's just sucking up to gain his girlfriend's mother's approval," Hades whispered to Poseidon.

Athena heard but said nothing about it. She was okay with it.

**"Are those… the gods?" I said.**

**"Yes, Percy," Chiron said. "They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhoon is marching forward – toward New York. Toward Olympus."**

**I let that sink in. "How long until he gets here?"**

**"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days. Most of the Olympians are there... except your father, who has a war of his own to fight."**

**"But then who's guarding Olympus?"**

**Connor Stoll shook his head. "If Typhoon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympus."**

**I thought about Kronos's words on the ship: **_**I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus.**_ **Was this what he was talking about: an attack by Typhoon? **

"Maybe." Artemis said, a worried edge in her voice.

**It was sure terrifying enough. But Kronos was always following us, misdirecting our attention. This seemed too obvious for him. And in my dreams, the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come, as if Typhoon were only the first.**

**"It's a trick," I said. "We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen."**

Athena nodded in approval, "Smart boy."

The campers who knew Percy before, were surprised. Percy sent all of them a smug smile of victory. Annabeth and Reyna chuckled at Percy's childish behavior.

**Chiron looked at me gravely. "Something worse than Typhoon? I hope not."**

**"We have to defend Olympus," I insisted. "Kronos has another attack planned."**

**"He did," Travis Stoll reminded me, "But you sunk his ship."**

**Everyone was looking at me. They wanted some good news. They wanted to believe that at least I'd give them a little bit of hope.**

**I glanced at Annabeth.** **I could tell we were thinking the same thing: What if the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** was a ploy?**

"Beckendorf died for nothing, then!" Hephaestus said, he slammed his fists on the arms of his throne, his body shaking slightly by the tears he was trying to hold in.

**What if Kronos **_**let**_** us blow up the ship so we'd lower our guard? But I wasn't going to say that in front of Silena. Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission.**

**"Maybe you're right," I said, though I didn't believe it.**

**I tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were in the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before.**

**Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus. **

Poseidon flinched at the reminder.

**Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were on our own with a spy in our midst.**

**Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, I was going to die when I turned sixteen – which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhoon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.**

"I love your sarcasm," Hermes told Percy, his mouth was still stuffed with candy, he was wearing the same outfit as before, except his tie now had polka dots and in small letters it said: нєямєs, αи αὠєsσмє ɠσd.

**"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for the night."**

**He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhoon and the gods disappeared.**

**"That's an understatement," I muttered.**

**And the war council adjourned.**

"End of chapter," Piper said cheerfully and closed the book, handing it to Jason, who took it immediately and flipped to the next chapter.

"**We Burn a Metal Shroud,**" Jason read loud and clear, his voice bouncing off of the walls.

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The end. Can I get up to 300 reviews until the day I update again? Which is in a couple of weeks, since I said that I'm moving. Read the top. D just try please? right now there's 236 reviews. thanks for reading. Flames will be given to Leo, Hestia, Hephaestus, and I will use some of it to roast marshmallows.

Even if I don't get up to 300 reviews, I'll still update.

-**sαdìє вяєєzγ**


	5. Chapter 4

I have an excuse for not updating last Friday. I was just lazy and then I went to soccer practice. BRO I WAS SWEATING AND HAD A HUGE HEADACHE AND VOMITING ALL OVER DA MODAFUCKING PLACE... LET'S NOT FORGET BLOOD AND TEARS. Anyways, I've noticed, and I'm sure some of you guys have too, that I can't really follow the updating schedule I had on my profile, so I deleted it. Now, I'm just going to update when I feel like it. Sometimes I might update twice a week or once. Any day. This goes for all of my stories. Thanks for reading guys! I got **62**** reviews in FIVE DAYS :D **thanks so much! xoxo.

OH and I got a review saying: I think you had too much fun writing this chapter {chapter 3}. My response is: **i was high bro. i was high on sugar. i was feelin' like 10-year old Nico. woooh! partay! somebody call Mista D. it's bout to get wild in here! lol jk. **

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO, Uncle Rick does. I also don't own the songs mentioned. K? k.

-**ѕαdιє вяєєzу**

oh and I changed my profile up a bit! it looks flipping awesome! go and read my bio ;D

**WARNING: CUSSING. THAT'S WHY IT'S RATED T BITCHES... CAUSE TEENS USUALLY CUSS... WELL DON'T READ IF YA DON'T LIKE, BRO.**

* * *

**Chapter Four: We Burn a Metal Shroud**

This girl wouldn't stop, almost had to call the cops. She was scheming, oh she was wrong. 

**Try and guess the song! ^^**

**From now on, I'll have song lyrics from songs I'm currently listening to at the top of every chapter, and whoever gets them right first, will have the next chapter dedicated to them. I'll be doing this for the rest of the story.**

* * *

**"We Burn a Metal Shroud." **Jason read loud and clear, his voice bouncing off the walls.

**I dreamed Rachel Elizabeth Dare was throwing darts at my picture.**

Reyna raised and eye-brow, "A heart breaker, I see!" she said in a teasing tone. Percy shook his head rapidly, glancing nervously at Annabeth, "NO! Rachel doesn't like me like that! I SWEAR!" Athena was glaring at him by this point.

**She was standing in her room… Okay, back up. I have to explain that Rachel doesn't have a room.** **She has the top floor of her family's mansion, which is a renovated brownstone in Brooklyn.**

**Her "room" is a huge loft with industrial lighting and floor-to-ceiling windows. It's about twice as big as my mom's apartment.**

"Damn" Nico muttered.

"Percy's room in Atlantis is bigger," Annabeth bragged smugly, while everyone gave nods of agreement and some had a jealous glint in their eyes.

**Some alternative rock was blaring from her paint-covered Bose docking system. As far as I could tell, Rachel's only rule about music was that no two songs on her Ipod could sound the same, and they all had to be strange.**

Percy nodded, agreeing with himself, which caused Reyna and Annabeth to give him strange looks. He smirked at Reyna, giving her a small smile, then gave Annabeth a peck on her lips, making her blush slightly.

**She wore a kimono, and her hair was frizzy, like she'd been sleeping.**

**Her bed was messed up. Sheets hung over a bunch of artist's easels.**

**Dirty clothes and old energy bar wrappers were strewn around the floor, but when you've got a room that big, the mess doesn't look so bad.**

Percy grinned.

**Out the windows you could see the entire nighttime skyline of Manhattan. The picture she was attacking was a painting of me standing over the giant Antaeus.**

"She's freaking amazing," Percy complimented.

**Rachel had painted it a couple of months ago. My expression in the picture was fierce-disturbing, even so it was hard to tell if I was the good guy or the bad guy, but Rachel said I'd looked just like that after the battle.**

"**Demigods," Rachel muttered as she threw another dart at the canvas. **

The demigods looked offended.

"Mortals," Travis said in mock anger.

"**And their stupid quests." **

"Excuse me, it's not our fault!" Katie said outraged, _mortals, so idiotic and clueless_.

**Most of the darts bounced off, but a few stuck. One hung off my chin like a goatee.**

**Someone pounded on her bedroom door. "Rachel!" a man shouted. "What in the world are you doing? Turn off that-" Rachel scooped up her remote control and shut off the music.**

"**Come in!" Her dad walked in, scowling and blinking from the light. He had rust-colored hair a little darker than Rachel's.** **It was smashed on one side like he'd lost a fight with his pillow. **

The Stolls smirked.

"PILLOW FIGHT!" Travis yelled and grabbed one of the pillows from the couch they were sitting in. Travis smacked Clarisse in the face with his pillow and took cover behind his brother when Clarisse stood up and cracked her knuckles loudly.

"NO PILLOW FIGHT!" Annabeth yelled in a commanding voice, making everyone sit down and put down their cushions. Clarisse was still scowling at the Stolls and she gave them a heated glare.

**His blue silk pajamas had "WD" monogrammed on the pocket.**

**Seriously, who has monogrammed pajamas?**

Snorts were heard throughout the throne room.

"Mr. Dare does," Apollo mumbled, a smirk on his face. Hermes looked away, his face flushing slightly, not that anyone noticed. He made a mental note to keep his own monogrammed pajamas hidden from everyone.

"**What is going on?" he demanded. "It's three in the morning." **

**"Couldn't sleep," Rachel said. On the painting, a dart fell off my face. Rachel hid the rest behind her back, but Mr. Dare noticed. **

**"So… I take it your friend isn't coming to St. Thomas?"**

"More like _boyfriend_," Connor sang lowly to his brother, who snickered and shot a look at Percy, who wasn't looking their way.

**That's what Mr. Dare called me. Never Percy. Just your friend. Or young man if he was talking to me, which he rarely did.**

**Rachel knit her eyebrows. "I don't know." **

**"We leave in the morning," her dad said. "If he hasn't made up his mind yet-" **

**"He's probably not coming," Rachel said miserably.** "**Happy?"**

Annabeth glared at the book, she knew Rachel had known that she liked Percy, even back then. Honestly, Annabeth couldn't blame Rachel for having a crush on Percy, it was impossible not to like him. His gorgeous green eyes... raven black hair that was so soft and looked like it had streaks of dark blue in the sunlight, his mesmerizing smile that made her knees go weak... _woah Annabeth! You sound like Aphrodite! SNAP. OUT. OF. IT. _

_Shut up! _Annabeth told the voice in her head, _You sound like you're having a seizure with the 'snap dot out dot of dot it dot' thing. If you're going to talk in my head, do it right._

_Whatever. _The voice said, Annabeth could practically feel it rolling its eyes at her.

_Don't talk to me like that! _Annabeth argued back.

_Annie, Annie, Annie, are you seriously arguing with me? I am you. _

Annabeth's eyes widened... she was talking to herself.

_'Breathe,' _she told herself, she looked around and noticed that one one was paying attention to her. Good. She was snapped out of her thoughts when Jason's voice reached her.

**Mr. Dare put his hands behind his back. He paced the room with a stern expression. I imagined he did that in the boardroom of his land development company and made his employees nervous.**

"**Are you still having bad dreams?" he asked. "Headaches?" **

**Rachel threw her darts on the floor. "I should never have told you about that."**

"**I'm your father," he said. "I'm worried about you."**

"LIES! HE BE LYIN'!" Apollo yelled, standing up and pointing an accusing finger at the hardcover book, "I'm the god of truths and my senses detect that he's lying. That motherfu-"

"APOLLO!" Artemis yelled, "There are children here!" she pointed to fourteen-year old Nico.

Nico looked offended but didn't want to risk himself into being turned into a jack-elope.

"**Worried about the family's reputation," Rachel muttered.**

Percy nodded, huffing angrily.

**Her father didn't react-maybe because he'd heard that comment before, or maybe because it was true.**

Apollo mumbled, "Liar, liar, pants on freakin' fire. That lying b- I mean beeotch," he said nervously after meeting Artemis' glare.

"I cuss too, I'm not a kid," Nico muttered angrily, pouting slightly.

"**We could call Dr. Arkwright," he suggested.** "**He helped you get through the death of your hamster." **

"Um, ok~" Katie said, drawing out the 'o'. Will nodded agreeing with her, making her smile, which made Travis glare at him. Katie nor Will seemed to notice.

**"I was six then," She said.** "**And no, Dad, I don't need a therapist. I just…" She shook her head helplessly.**

"He's such a bad parent," Hera said, and glared at the floor.

**Her father stopped in front of the windows. He gazed at the New York skyline as if he owned it-which wasn't true. He only owned part of it.**

"Yeah? Well, I own da world hoes!" Hermes exclaimed smugly... then looked around when everyone was staring at him awkwardly.

"I-I'm not a hoe!" Nico yelled at the trickster, his fists clenched. The shadows were bending into horrendous shapes of people getting attacked during battle. Hermes' eyes widened, "I know! I WAS JUST KIDDING! I'M SORRY!" he yelled, hiding behind his own legs, which he had brought up and put in front of him, he was rocking back and forth, watching the intimidating shadows nervously.

Nico glared at him one more time and he relaxed, willing the shadows to stop, much to everyone's except Hades and Demeter's relief.

Jason gave a nervous laugh and looked down at his lap, where the book was and began reading again.

"**It will be good for you to get away," He decided. "You've had some unhealthy influences."**

Percy glared but said nothing. Back in the Bahamas, there was a huge earthquake, strangely, only a beach house, ahem, mansion was only destroyed. It was the beach mansion that belonged to Mr. Dare. Percy and Poseidon grinned evilly, while everyone near them scooted away from them warily.

"**I'm not going to Clarion Ladies Academy," Rachel said. And my friends are none of your business."**

**Mr. Dare smiled, but it wasn't a warm smile. It was more like, Someday you'll realize how silly you sound.**

Athena rolled her eyes. He wasn't very wise. He was making his own daughter hate him. So un-wise.

"**Try to get some sleep," he urged. "We'll be at the beach by tomorrow night. It will be fun."**

"**Fun," Rachel repeated. "Lots of fun." Her father exited the room. He left the door open behind him.**

Dionysus snorted, "He knows nothing about fun," then he went back to playing pac-man on his phone.

Hermes leaned towards him, "Watcha playing D?"

"Pac-man." the god of madness stated.

"Wanna know what's more fun than Pac-man?"

Dionysus paused his game and looked up at the god of travelers curiously, "What?"

"Temple. Run."

Hermes took Dionysus' phone and fiddled with it for a couple of minutes before handing it back to him.

"Play it. It's so fucking addicting. I know, my son created it." Hermes stated proudly. The wine god nodded and picked up his phone and started a new game.

"_Do you want a tutorial?_ Heck no." Dionysus said quietly.

Jason raised an eyebrow but said nothing, instead he began reading again.

**Rachel stared at the portrait of me. Then she walked to the easel next to it, which was covered in a sheet.**

"**I hope they're dreams," she said. She uncovered the easel. On it was a hastily sketched charcoal, but Rachel was a good artist.** **The picture was definitely Luke as a young boy.**

Everyone who didn't know of Rachel's skills, their eyes widened in disbelief.

"H-How?" Hermes stuttered.

He looked at the demigods for an explanation but was greeted with silence. He sighed and gestured for Jason to read.

**He was about nine years old, with a wide grin and no scar on his face. I had no idea how Rachel could've known what he looked like back then, but the portrait was so good I had a feeling she wasn't guessing.**

**From what I knew about Luke's life (which wasn't much), the picture showed him just before he'd found out he was a half-blood and had run away from home.**

"Damn it! How do you play this damned game? _Pi̱gaínete sta Tártara eseís i̱líthioi pithí̱kous!" *[Go to Tartarus you stupid monkeys!]*_

Everyone watched him amused for a minute, before they focused back on the book.

**Rachel stared at the portrait. Then she uncovered the next easel. This picture was even more disturbing. It showed the Empire State Building with lightning all around it. In the distance a dark storm was brewing, with a huge hand coming out of the clouds.**

"W-What?" Apollo said confused. Was it possible that Rachel could be his new Oracle in the future? _Maybe. _

He caught Percy's eye. The son of the Sea God nodded at him, confirming his suspicions.

**At the base of the building a crowd had gathered… But it wasn't a normal crowd of tourists and pedestrians. I saw spears, javelins, and banners the trappings of an army.**

"**Percy," Rachel muttered, as if she knew I was listening, "What is going on?"**

**The dream faded, and the last thing I remember was wishing I could answer her question. The next morning, I wanted to call her, but there were no phones at camp.** **Dionysus and Chiron didn't need a land line. They just called Olympus with an Iris-message whenever they needed something.**

"Iris-message?" Reyna leaned into Percy and whispered in his ear quietly. He nodded, "Remember that cloud-thing that appeared when you were in the Baths? That's an Iris-message. I guess it's just a Greek thing." He whispered back, his lips brushing against her ear, making her shiver slightly. Reyna nodded and shot him a smile.

The exchange didn't go unnoticed by Annabeth or Jason, who both frowned and looked away angrily. Annabeth laid back, forcing the Roman and the Greek to break apart from whispering behind her. She grasped Percy's warm hand and took his face in her hands, kissing him fiercely. She licked his bottom lip, asking for permission. He gave it to her, he kissed back just as passionately, making her moan quietly in his mouth.

Everyone else watched this awkwardly, Athena looked ready to explode but said nothing.

"Ahem." Ares interrupted in a bored tone.

The two half-bloods broke apart from their intense kiss and the blond blushed slightly, while the green-eyed man smiled goofily, his fingers intertwined with his girlfriend's.

"Sorry, continue please," Annabeth said, smiling fondly at her and her boyfriend's intertwined fingers. Jason nodded awkwardly and read. Leo smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at Piper suggestively, who smacked him. Jason watched this out of the corner of his eye, while reading. His voice became hard and he glared at every word he read.

**And when demigods use cell phones, the signals agitate every monster within a hundred miles. It's like sending up a flare: _Here I am! Please rearrange my face!_**

**Even within the safe borders of camp, that's not the kind of advertising we wanted to do. Most demigods (except for Annabeth and a few others) don't even own cell phones.**

**And I definitely couldn't tell Annabeth, "Hey, let me borrow your phone so I can call Rachel!"**

"If you had done that, I swear I would've.." Annabeth glared at Percy, leaving her threat unfinished. He gulped, and nodded, glad she hadn't finished her threat. She could be... ahem _descriptive. _

**To make the call, I would've had to leave camp and walk several miles to the nearest convenience store. Even if Chiron let me go, by the time I got there, Rachel would've been on the plane to St. Thomas. I ate a depressing breakfast by myself at the Poseidon table.**

"The food was depressed?" Leo asked loudly.

Piper rolled her eyes at the firebug and gave him a small nudge, when he faced her, she gave him an awkward look.

"He means, he was depressed while eating the food. Food can't be depressed, it's not living."

"Thanks nerd." Leo responded, his eyes glazed over. Piper glared at him, "At least I have a brain, unlike you!" She gave him a judging look and she stuck her nose in the air snootily.

Leo looked up and met her glare, "At least my mom isn't a whore."

Piper gasped along with Aphrodite; Hephaestus, Athena and Artemis smirked.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Piper yelled at him, standing up.

Jason put the book down on his seat and stood up, putting comforting arms around the daughter of the love goddess.

"It's true!" Leo stated, he refused to meet anyone's eyes, so he went back to fiddling with a couple pieces of metal and glass, along with colored wires.

Piper gave the son of Hephaestus one last glare and sat on the other side of Jason, next to Chris. He just rolled his eyes at her.

She looked away from the son of Hermes and focused on Jason's voice. She stole a glance at Leo, who was looking down, but she could make out a hurt expression on the Latino's face. She looked down, her hair covering her face.

**I kept staring at the fissure in the marble floor where two years ago Nico had banished a bunch of bloodthirsty skeletons to the Underworld.**

Nico grinned proudly, while his father sent him a small smile, which looked pretty creepy.

"He looks like a pedophile," Percy whispered in Annabeth's ear, then buried his face in her blond princess curls.

**The memory didn't exactly improve my appetite. **

Nico gave him a wicked grin, but then it vanished once the Ghost King noticed the Sea Prince's face buried in Annabeth's hair. He shook his head chuckling lowly.

**After breakfast, Annabeth and I walked down to inspect the cabins. Actually, it was Annabeth's turn for inspection. My morning chore was to sort through reports for Chiron. But since we both hated our jobs, we decided to do them together so it wouldn't be so heinous.**

Aphrodite stopped glaring at Leo and smiled brightly at the mention of her favorite couple.

**We started at the Poseidon cabin, which was basically just me. I'd made my bunk bed that morning (well, sort of) and straightened the Minotaur horn on the wall, so I gave myself a four out of five. **

**Annabeth made a face.**

"**You're being generous." She used the end of her pencil to pick up an old pair of running shorts. I snatched them away. **

Reyna snorted, "I guess your time at the Roman camp made you more ah, organized, huh?"

Percy picked his head up from Annabeth's shoulder and gave the female praetor a cheeky grin, "I guess. You know ya love my mess,"

Reyna gave him an amused smile but said nothing. Percy made a face at her and leaned back on his seat, putting his arm around the daughter of Athena.

**"Hey, give me a break. I don't have Tyson cleaning up after me this summer." **

**"Three out of five," Annabeth said.**

"I still think I deserved a four..." Percy grumbled, Poseidon nodding in agreement, the other two brothers rolled their eyes at the god. Annabeth's lips twitched, then her lips spread into a small smile, which made Percy smile.

_"If you need me, I'll come runnin' from a thousand miles away, 'cause when you smile, I smile, you smile, I smile." _Percy sang quietly in her ear, making her blush hard, and a giggle slipped from her lips.

The Lost Hero trio watched this in astonishment, they didn't know Annabeth could be so happy and not depressed, much less _giggle. _

**I knew better than to argue, so we moved along. I tried to skim through Chiron's stack of reports as we walked.**

"Now, Percy always wins the arguments," Will said smirking, "Cause Annie-" said girl glared at him, "I mean, Annabeth, just gives in into anything Percy says."

Travis joined in into the teasing, "Aw. Ain't that sweet?" he said in a thick southern accent. Connor was snickering next to his brother, "It is, dear brother, _very _sweet. I _wonder _what else is _sweet_." Connor gave the blushing couple a suggestive smile that said _how's sex? _

Annabeth threw her dagger at the three boys, glaring at them. She was still blushing, along with Percy. Athena's face was red in anger, but Poseidon only gave his son a wink saying _GET IT ON SON!_

**There were messages from demigods, nature spirits, and satyrs all around the country, writing about the latest monster activity. They were pretty depressing, and my ADHD brain did not like concentrating on depressing stuff.**

"You're so weird," Chris told Percy in amusement. Percy just rolled his eyes playfully.

**Little battles were raging everywhere. Camp recruitment was down to zero. Satyrs were having trouble finding new demigods and bringing them to Half-Blood Hill because so many monsters were roaming the country.**

**Our friend Thalia, **

"I miss my Pine-cone Face," Percy said with a loud sigh. Nico nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I miss her too," he said.

The gods raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet.

**who led the Hunters of Artemis,** **hadn't been heard from in months, and if Artemis knew what had happened to them, she wasn't sharing information.**

"What is one of my hunters doing with you _males?" _Artemis spat, glaring at the sons of Poseidon and Hades.

Percy spoke first, "She's our beloved cousin. The ex-pine cone tree."

He and Nico shared a smirk. "Pine-cone face." they both said together.

Percy stood up and went to sit on a free three-seat couch and Nico followed him, both of them sitting next to each other. Nico's head on Percy's broad shoulder.

"All we need in Thalia and we'll be complete!" Nico said, smiling fondly at the memory of the Huntress. Percy nodded.

Jason couldn't help but feel envious, the two guys knew his sister better than he did, her own brother by blood. He snapped out of his thoughts when Piper poked him. She gave him a small smile and told him to read.

Leo watched the two with sadness in his eyes.

Piper would never like him, would she? He's just a son of an ugly god. Perhaps, she was just like her mother, on looks and power? Leo shook his head 'no' to himself and fiddled with the wires in his hands some more, making them connect with each other and spark some electricity.

**We visited the Aphrodite cabin, which of course got a five out of five.** **The beds were perfectly made. The clothes in everyone's footlockers were color coordinated. Fresh flowers bloomed on the windowsills. **

**I wanted to dock a point because the whole place reeked of designer perfume, **

Piper rolled her eyes, and out of the corner of her eye she could see Leo scrunching up his nose in disgust.

She turned her head to Jason's voice and caught him sneaking a glance at Reyna. She felt her heart drop and she glared at the floor, her fists clenched in jealousy.

**but Annabeth ignored me.**

Annabeth blushed and gave Percy a look, who wasn't looking her way, instead, he was joking quietly with Nico on their couch across from hers.

"**Great job as usual, Silena, " Annabeth said. Silena nodded listlessly. The wall behind her bed was decorated with pictures of Beckendorf. **

Leo and Hephaestus frowned. Piper had the urge to comfort the blacksmith's son but thought better of it, her pride getting in the way.

**She sat on her bunk with a box of chocolates on her lap, and I remembered that her dad owned a chocolate store in the Village, which was how he'd caught the attention of Aphrodite. **

**"You want a bonbon?" Silena asked.** "**My dad sent them. He thought-he thought they might cheer me up."**

"**Are they any good?" I asked. **

**She shook her head. "They taste like cardboard." **

**I didn't have anything against cardboard, so I tried one.**

Nico looked up from his conversation with Percy and snickered, "Your thoughts are hilarious, cuz. I swear, they're gonna be the death of me,"

Percy snickered and Nico rolled his eyes, a bright smile on his lips.

"No pun intended."

**Annabeth passed. We promised to see Silena later and kept going. As we crossed the commons area, a fight broke out between the Ares and Apollo cabins. Some Apollo campers armed with firebombs flew over the Ares cabin in a chariot pulled by two pegasi. I'd never seen the chariot before, but it looked like a pretty sweet ride. Soon, the roof of the Ares cabin was burning, and naiads from the canoe lake rushed over to blow water on it.**

Apollo shot Ares a smug smile, who glowered. His eyes burning brightly with rage.

**Then the Ares campers called down a curse, and all the Apollo kids' arrows turned to rubber. The Apollo kids kept shooting at the Ares kids, but the arrows bounced off.**

It was Ares' turn to smile smugly at a dumbfounded Apollo.

Snickers were heard throughout the throne room.

**Two archers ran by, chased by an angry Ares kid who was yelling in poetry: "Curse me, eh? I'll make you pay! / I don't want to rhyme all day!"**

"They're better at poetry than their father," Percy whispered in Nico's ear, who grinned and nodded.

Will had a slight suspicion on what they were saying, so he shot the two children of the Big Three a glare.

**Annabeth sighed. "Not that again. Last time Apollo cursed a cabin, it took a week for the rhyming couplets to wear off.**

**I shuddered. Apollo was god of poetry as well as archery, and I'd heard him recite in person. I'd almost rather yet shot by an arrow.**

The snickering got louder and Apollo was glaring, although it was hard to take his glare seriously with his scarlet face. Percy was looking at his lap while Nico was shaking with laughter, making his hair tickle his neck.

"STAPHT IT, NICO." He whispered-yelled.

Nico was confused, "What?"

"You're laughing and it's making your hair move and tickle me," Percy said annoyed, swatting Nico's hair away. Nico rolled his eyes but didn't move.

"**What are they fighting about anyway?" I asked. Annabeth ignored me while she scribbled on her inspection scroll, giving both cabins a one out of five.**

**I found myself staring at her,** **which was stupid since I'd seen her a billion times. She and I were about the same height this summer, which was a relief.**

**Still, she seemed so much more mature.** **It was kind of intimidating. **

**I mean, sure, she'd always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful.**

Nico smirked at a blushing Annabeth. Percy had a poker face, but in the inside, he was blushing like a little schoolgirl.

**Finally she said, "That flying chariot." **

**"What?" **

**"You asked what they were fighting about." **

**"Oh. Oh, right." **

The Stolls had out a small notepad, smirking and writing down stuff in Greek.

Katie stared at them suspiciously, and leaned over to get a closer look.

"_Ekviasmós_" it read. Katie shook her head and gave Percy a sympathetic look. Percy gave her a questioning glance back.

"Blackmail," she mouthed.

**"They captured it in a raid in Philadelphia last week. Some of Luke's demigods were there with that flying chariot. The Apollo cabin seized it during the battle, but the Ares cabin led the raid. So they've been fighting about who gets it ever since."**

Reyna rolled her eyes. Annabeth gave her a glare, she knew that the roman was silently judging the Greeks.

_Stupid, snooty, bitch. _Annabeth thought. Truth to be told, she was still _slightly _jealous of the relationship that the Roman had with her boyfriend.

**We ducked as Michael Yew's chariot dive-bombed an Ares camper. The Ares camper tried to stab him and cuss him out in rhyming couplets. He was pretty creative about rhyming those cuss words.**

Ares grinned.

"So are you Perce, don't lie." Chris told the hero, much to everyone's amusement.

"Nuh-uh," retorted the Sea Prince, then stuck his tongue out.

"**We're fighting for our lives," I said, "and they're bickering about some stupid chariot."**

Hephaestus nodded and smiled slightly at Percy. The god had been extremely quiet ever since they got back from Atlantis, which wasn't unusual, the blacksmith was always quiet, but even Ares and Hera were worried this time, and that was saying something. Actually, saying _a lot. _

"**They'll get over it," Annabeth said. "Clarisse will come to her senses." **

Clarisse had a scowl on her face.

**I wasn't so sure. That didn't sound like the Clarisse I knew.**

Clarisse raised a questioning eyebrow at Percy, who didn't look her way.

**I scanned more reports and we inspected a few more cabins. Demeter got a four. **

Demeter and Katie smiled.

**Hephaestus got a three and probably should've gotten lower, but with Beckendorf being gone and all, we cut them some slack.**

Leo and Hephaestus smiled lightly and stayed quiet. Piper shot Leo a look, which he ignored. She sighed sadly.

**Hermes got a two, which was no surprise. All campers who didn't know their godly parentage were shoved into the Hermes cabin, and since the gods were kind of forgetful, that cabin was always overcrowded.**

Hermes glared at all of the gods who had children, while the Greek campers smiled, but hid it, they didn't want to give it away.

The Lost Hero trio were confused, but were silenced by the looks they were receiving, warning them to not spoil anything.

**Finally we got to Athena's cabin, which was orderly and clean as usual. Books were straightened on the shelves. The armor was polished. Battle maps and blueprints decorated the walls. Only Annabeth's bunk was messy.**

Percy sent Annabeth a reassuring smile and then winked at her, making the blond blush.

**It was covered in papers, and her silver laptop was still running. **

**"Vlacas," Annabeth muttered, which was basically calling herself an idiot in Greek. **

Athena raised an eyebrow, "It means 'fool'."

"Eh, same thing," Percy replied, shrugging it off.

**Her second-in-command, Malcolm, suppressed a smile. "Yeah, um… We cleaned everything else. Didn't know if it was safe to move your notes." **

The gods and Reyna raised eyebrows in question but Jason carried on reading.

**That was probably smart. **

The Greek campers nodded.

**Annabeth had a bronze knife that she reserved just for monsters and people who messed with her stuff.**

The gods looked at the daughter of Athena with wide eyes. Annabeth just smiled at them innocently.

**Malcolm grinned at me. "We'll wait outside while you finish inspection."**

**The Athena campers filed out the door while Annabeth cleaned up her bunk. I shuffled uneasily and pretended to go through some more reports. Technically, even on inspection, it was against camp rules for two campers to be… Like, alone in a cabin. That rule had come up a lot when Silena and Beckendorf started dating.**

The Stolls and Nico sent Percy and Annabeth mischievous looks. Percy's cheeks were covered with red dust while Annabeth's face was covered with her own hair, making it impossible to see her reaction.

**And I know some of you might be thinking, aren't all demigods related on the godly side, and doesn't that make dating gross?**

**But the thing is, the godly side of your family doesn't count, genetically speaking, since gods don't have DNA.** **A demigod would never think about dating someone who had the same godly parent. **

"I remember that time Will had a crush on a newbie, then he found out that she was his half-sister... he threw up and refused to even look at her for a month," Chris informed everyone in the throne room, making Will blush wildly and the rest to snicker.

The Olympians didn't see anything wrong with this, then again, they themselves were all practically brothers and sisters and they had sex with each other... they didn't find it odd. _Nope, not at all. _

**Like two kids from Athena cabin? No way. But a daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Hephaestus? They're not related. So it's no problem. **

Piper looked at Leo, who was staring at Reyna with a goofy smile on his lips. She felt her face get hot and jealousy run through her veins.

She didn't like Leo, did she? Nah.. but then why did she feel jealous?

Piper pondered over this but had nothing. Jason noticed her frown and grabbed her hand, smiling at her. Piper returned the gesture, giving him an uneasy smile. Jason didn't seem to notice.

**Anyway, for some strange reason I was thinking about this as I watched Annabeth straighten up.**

**She closed her laptop, which had been given to her as a gift from the inventor Daedalus last summer. I cleared my throat. "So… Get any good info from that thing?" **

**"Too much," she said. "Daedalus had so many ideas, I could spend fifty years just trying to figure them all out."**

**"Yeah," I muttered. "That would be fun." **

**She shuffled her papers-mostly drawings of buildings and a bunch of handwritten notes. I knew she wanted to be an architect someday, but I'd learned the hard way not to ask what she was working on.** **She'd start talking about angles and load-bearing joints until my eyes glazed over. **

Annabeth and Athena huffed, while Percy gave Annabeth a sheepish grin, making her melt in the inside, not that she'd ever admit that out loud.

**"You know…" She brushed her hair behind her ear, like she does when she's nervous. "This whole thing with Beckendorf and Silena. It kind of makes you think. About… What's important. About losing people who are important. "**

Hestia shot Annabeth a small smile, her face was illuminated from the flames of the hearth that she was tending. Nico gave Percy a small nudge.

**I nodded. My brain started seizing on little random details, like the fact that she was still wearing those silver owl earrings from her dad, who was this brainiac military history professor in San Francisco.**

**"Urn, yeah," I stammered. "Like . . . Is everything cool with your family?" **

Percy blushed and looked away from everyone who was laughing lightly at him.

"Excuse the fuck outta me, I'm not the god of love or anything," he said.

Aphrodite's eyes sparkled, "You could be.. the god of beauty, I mean," she said and winked at him. Annabeth glared at the goddess.

**Okay, really stupid question, but hey, I was nervous.** **Annabeth looked disappointed, but she nodded. "My dad wanted to take me to Greece this summer," she said wistfully. "I've always wanted to see-" **

**"The Parthenon," I remembered. **

**She managed a smile. "Yeah." **

**"That's okay. There'll be other summers, right?" **

**As soon as I said it, I realized it was a boneheaded comment.** **I was facing the end of my days. **

The gods frowned and took one good look at Percy, just to make sure that he was really there.

**Within a week, Olympus might fall. If the Age of the Gods really did end, ****the world as we knew it would dissolve into chaos. Demigods would be hunted to extinction. There would be no more summers for us.**

This time, the demigods frowned along with the gods. Annabeth rubbed her arm where she had been stabbed during the war and frowned, her gray eyes turning dark, like raging storm clouds on a fierce rainy day.

**Annabeth stared at her inspection scroll.** **"Three out five," she muttered, "for a sloppy head counselor. Come on. Let's finish your reports and get back to Chiron." **

**On the way to the Big House, we read the last report, which was handwritten on a maple leaf from a satyr in Canada. **

**If possible, the note made me feel even worse. **

**"'Dear Grover,'" I read aloud. "'Woods outside Toronto attacked by giant evil badger. **

"Evil. Badger." Clarisse repeated, disbelief in her husky voice.

**Tried to do as you suggested and summon power of Pan. No effect. Many naiads' trees destroyed. Retreating to Ottawa. Please advise. Where are you?' -Gleeson Hedge, protector."**

"Gleeson," Leo mumbled, his voice filled with mirth. Jason laughed lightly alongside him and Leo smiled at him. Piper decided it was safe to laugh along with the two, but regretted it when Leo went quiet once she let out a small and quiet laugh, only loud enough for the three of them to hear it. She frowned and turned away, feeling hurt.

**Annabeth grimaced. "You haven't heard anything from him? Even with your empathy link?" **

**I shook my head dejectedly.**

Percy frowned deeply and let out a huge sigh. "I miss Grover."

**Ever since last summer when the god Pan had died, our friend Grover had been drifting farther and farther away. **

**The Council of Cloven Elders treated him like an outcast, but Grover still traveled all over the East Coast, trying to spread the word about Pan and convince nature spirits to protect their own little bits of the wild.**

Percy smiled proudly, "That's my G-man. Hear that? He's the best satyr ever, and my best friend too." He declared.

The goddesses smiled fondly at the son of Poseidon.

**He'd only come back to camp a few times to see his girlfriend, Juniper.** **Last I'd heard he was in Central Park organizing the dryads, but nobody had seen or heard from him in two months. We'd tried to send Iris-messages. They never got through. **

Everyone who knew Grover looked down, the satyr had grown on them all. But then, they smiled brightly, they were proud of the Lord of the Wild.

**I had an empathy link with Grover, so I hoped I would know if anything bad happened to him.**

**Grover had told me one time that if he died, the empathy link might kill me too.** **But I wasn't sure if that was still true or not. **

Poseidon's eyes widened.

**I wondered if he was still in Manhattan. Then I thought about my dream of Rachel's sketch-dark clouds closing on the city, an army gathered around the Empire State Building. "Annabeth. "**

**I stopped her by the tether ball court. I knew I was asking for trouble, but I didn't know who else to trust. Plus, I'd always depended on Annabeth for advice.**

Percy sent Annabeth a smile, which Annabeth returned, smiling pridefully.

**"Listen, I had this dream about, um, Rachel..." I told her the whole thing, even the weird picture of Luke as a child. For a while she didn't say anything. Then she rolled up her inspection scroll so tight she ripped it.**

"Jealous Annie?" Connor asked said girl in a teasing tone, but regretted it when a dagger went past his ear and chopped off some of his hair and landed on the wall behind him. He gulped and stared at the dagger wide-eyed, then turned to meet Annabeth's glare.

"Don't. Call. Me. Annie!" she growled. Connor nodded in alarm and raised his hands in surrender. Percy had to stand up and get Annabeth away from said Stoll, and then made her sit on his lap.

**"What do you want me to say?"**

"**I'm not sure. You're the best strategist I know. If you were Kronos planning this war, what would you do next?"**

"Buttering her up, I see, good job son." Poseidon said approvingly.

**"I'd use Typhoon as a distraction. Then I'd hit Olympus directly, while the gods were in the West. "**

**"Just like in Rachel's picture." **

**"Percy, " she said, her voice tight, "Rachel is just a mortal."**

Annabeth's mouth was in a line, but it turned into a smile when Percy began kissing the side of her hair and eventually brushed her hair aside, giving him access to her neck. She smiled and closed her eyes, enjoying their moment. He was kissing her neck even more now, but not in a sexual way, more like in a _I-missed-you-so-much-baby-I-love-you _sort of way. She was totally okay with that... but Athena wasn't.

**"But what if her dream is true? Those other Titans-they said Olympus would be destroyed in a matter of days. They said they had plenty of other challenges. And what's with that picture of Luke as a kid-" **

**"We'll just have to be ready. "**

**"How?" I said. "Look at our camp. We can't even stop fighting each other. And I'm supposed to get my stupid soul reaped."**

Percy frowned against his girlfriend's neck , memories of the war coming back to him.

**She threw down her scroll. "I knew we shouldn't have shown you the prophecy." Her voice was angry and hurt. "All it did was scare you.**

"Anybody would be scared!" surprisingly, it was Artemis who yelled this.

**You run away from things when you're scared. "**

"No, he doesn't." Poseidon said in a tight voice, he was glaring at Annabeth.

**I stared at her, completely stunned. "Me? Run away?" **

**She got right in my face. "Yes, you. You're a coward, Percy Jackson!"**

Poseidon glared at Annabeth harder. Jason strangely found himself smiling at the words as he read them. He then shot a smirk at Percy, who didn't see it.

**We were nose to nose. Her eyes were red, and I suddenly realized that when she called me a coward, maybe she wasn't talking about the prophecy.**

Percy rolled his eyes and pulled away from Annabeth, making the girl frown.

**"If you don't like our chances," she said, "Maybe you should go on that vacation with Rachel." **

"I should've," Percy mumbled under his breath. Nico nodded at him, and then mouthed _'girls and their drama' _while rolling his onyx eyes.

**"Annabeth-" **

**"If you don't like our company."**

**"That's not fair!"**

**She pushed past me and stormed toward the strawberry fields. She hit the tether ball as she passed and sent it spinning angrily around the pole. **

**I'd like to say my day got better from there. Of course it didn't. **

Annabeth sent Percy an apologetic look, but he refused to meet her eyes.

**That afternoon we had an assembly at the campfire to burn Beckendorf's burial shroud and say our good-byes. Even the Ares and Apollo cabins called a temporary truce to attend. **

**Beckendorf's shroud was made out of metal links, like chain mail. I didn't see how it would burn, but the Fates must've been helping out. The metal melted in the fire and turned to golden smoke, which rose into the sky. The campfire flames always reflected the campers' moods, and today they burned black.**

Hera frowned, the demigods were _really_ upset. Even Dionysus was frowning by the end of the sentence.

**I hoped Beckendorf's spirit would end up in Elysium.**

Hades nodded.

**Maybe he'd even choose to be reborn and try for Elysium in three different lifetimes so he could reach the Isles of the Blest, which was like the Underworld's ultimate party headquarters. If anyone deserved it, Beckendorf did. **

"Of course he does!" Hephaestus exclaimed.

**Annabeth left without a word to me.**

Percy decided to not hold a grudge against his girlfriend, and he grasped her hand, and then pulled her to him, slamming their lips together and attacking her lips, kissing her fiercely and hungrily. He pulled away satisfied after a couple of minutes and Annabeth was sitting next to him, her expression dazed and her lips with a huge smile.

**Most of the other campers drifted off to their afternoon activities. I just stood there staring at the dying fire. Silena sat nearby crying, while Clarisse and her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez, tried to comfort her. Finally I got up the nerve to walk over. **

**"Hey, Silena, I'm really sorry. " She sniffled. **

**Clarisse glared at me, but she always glares at everyone. Chris would barely look at me. He'd been one of Luke's men until Clarisse rescued him from the Labyrinth last summer, and I guess he still felt guilty about it.**

Chris looked away, he did still feel guilty. Clarisse grabbed his hand and gave him a smile, making his eyes light up and pecked his girlfriend on the lips lightly.

**I cleared my throat. "Silena, you know Beckendorf carried your picture. He looked at it right before we went into battle. You meant a lot to him. You made the last year the best of his life." Silena sobbed. **

Percy now realized the other reason why Silena had been crying... she had felt guilty. She had been the spy.

**"Good work, Percy," Clarisse muttered. **

**"No, it's all right," Silena said. "Thank… Thank you, Percy. I should go. " **

**"You want company?" Clarisse asked. **

**Silena shook her head and ran off.**

**"She's stronger than she looks," Clarisse muttered, almost to herself. "She'll survive."**

Clarisse nodded, agreeing with her book-self.

**"You could help with that," I suggested. "You could honor Beckendorf's memory by fighting with us."**

**Clarisse went for her knife, but it wasn't there anymore. She'd thrown it on the Ping-Pong table in the Big House.**

Percy sighed in relief.

Clarisse sent him a glare.

**"Not my problem," she growled. "My cabin doesn't get honor, I don't fight."**

Ares frowned at his daughter, who was looking down at her hands.

**I noticed she wasn't speaking in rhymes. Maybe she hadn't been around when her cabin mates got cursed, or maybe she had a way of breaking the spell.**

"I wasn't around," Clarisse confirmed, shrugging.

**With a chill, I wondered if Clarisse could be Kronos's spy** **at camp.**

"Sorry Clarisse," Percy told her, she only gave him a nod and looked straight ahead, waiting for Jason to begin reading again.

**Was that why she was keeping her cabin out of the fight? But as much as I disliked Clarisse, spying for the Titans didn't** **seem like her style.**

The Greeks agreed immediately, which made a smile flicker on her face, only for a second just before her face turned expressionless again.

**"All right," I told her. "I didn't want to bring this up, but you owe me one. You'd be rotting in a Cyclops's cave in the Sea of Monsters if it wasn't for me." **

**She clenched her jaw. "Any other favor, Percy. Not this. The Ares cabin has been dissed too many times. And don't think I don't know what people say about me behind my back."**

"Wow, you actually called him by his name," Katie said, clearly impressed.

"Don't get used to it." Clarisse directed this statement towards the son of the Sea God, who only gave her a cheeky smile, "I won't."

**I wanted to say, well, it's true. But I bit my tongue. "So, what you're just going to let Kronos crush us?" I asked.**

**"If you want my help so bad, tell Apollo to give us the chariot."**

**She charged me, but Chris got between us. **

"Thank you Chris, I didn't feel like gettin' pulverized before the time was right," Percy said, then realized what he had said when he saw Annabeth's frown.

"I-I mean, I didn't want to die early... YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" he yelled frustrated.

**"Whoa, guys," he said. "Clarisse, you know, maybe he's got a point." **

**She sneered at him. "Not you too!" She trudged off with Chris at her heels. **

**"Hey, wait! I just meant-Clarisse, wait!" **

"Damn," Travis said, giving Chris a look.

**I watched the last sparks from Beckendorf's fire curl into the afternoon sky. Then I headed toward the sword-fighting arena. I needed a break, and I wanted to see an old friend.**

Nico shot Percy a questioning glance, and said boy nodded.

"Alright, that's the end." Jason said, putting the book down on his lap and stretching.

"I'll read next, alright **I Drive My Dog Into a Tree**," Read Piper.

* * *

That's it for today! I might be updating Saturday? I'm not sure, I can't for the rest of this week, since I have to update my chaos story, _Strive for Perfection, _and finish a one-shot for _Desire, Pain, and Pleasure_, then I have to start working on another one shot for _Dark Olympian Myths. _

Thanks for reading! You might've noticed I was kinda mean to Piper here... well I don't really like her. that's that. bye.

-**ѕαdιє вяєєzу**


	6. Chapter 5

Hey guys! I haven't updated in weeks? Yeah, I know, but I'm not going to apologize and make up an excuse. I was just lazy to update this story because I was busy having ideas for one-shots. Go check them out **Percy Jackson One-shots. **and vote on the poll on my profile for your favorite person for Percy to be paired up with. There's exactly 100 choices and you can choose 25. There would be more choices but the poll said that it can't go over 100... poo-ey.

Thanks for reading, and this chapter is dedicated to: **SkullKey4758 **he/she guessed the song correctly first. It was **Maria **by Justin Bieber.

BTW, changing the rating to M instead of T because of the language and suggestive comments ;) he he. Thank you to TrustingHim17 for the suggestion.

Also, Nico and Percy's relationship here is purely bromance. I wish it was more *sigh* but eh, I'm still happy with Nico/Percy bro moments.

* * *

**Chapter 5: I Drive My Dog Into A Tree**

Now is the time, now is the hour, to take back my heart, to take back my power. Now is the moment to break your spell, I see right through you now burn in hell. 

* * *

**"I Drive My Dog Into a Tree." **Read Piper. Percy and Nico chuckled, then paled. They knew what the chapter after this one was about.

**Mrs. O'Leary saw me before I saw her, which was a pretty good trick considering she's the size of a garbage truck. **

"Or you're just blind." Reyna commented casually, inspecting her nails, not meeting his eyes. Percy mock-glared at her.

**I walked into the arena, and a wall of darkness slammed into me. "WOOF!"**

**The next thing I knew I was flat on the ground with a huge paw on my chest and an oversize Brillo-pad tongue licking my face. **

Nico and Percy wrinkled their noses... they did _not _enjoy those baths.

**"Ow!" I said. "Hey, girl. Good to see you too. Ow!" **

**It took a few minutes for Mrs. O'Leary to calm down and get off me. By then I was pretty much drenched in dog drool.**

"I feel ya man," Nico whispered in Percy's ear seriously. They both looked at each other and gave each other a nod.

**She wanted to play fetch, so I picked up a bronze shield and tossed it across the arena. By the way, Mrs. O'Leary is the world's only friendly hell hound.**

"Is that the one that you showed up with yesterday during the battle?" Reyna asked Percy. The rest except Percy looked confused.

Percy nodded, "Yeah."

Reyna nodded, "She's nice... she saved me from a monster."

The two praetors shared a small smile, that left everyone confused... _What battle? _

Piper began reading again:

**I kind of inherited her when her previous owner died. She lived at camp, but Beckendorf… Well, Beckendorf used to take care of her whenever I was gone. **

"Who was her previous owner?" Leo asked Percy.

"Daedalus."

Leo's jaw hung open, which made Piper giggle silently... _he was cute..._

"Um, okay.."

**He had smelted Mrs. O'Leary's favorite bronze chewing bone.** **He'd forged her collar with the little smiley face and a crossbones name tag. Next to me, Beckendorf had been her best friend. **

Percy and Nico looked down frowning... Mrs. O'Leary had been devastated when she had seen that Beckendorf wasn't going to come back.

**Thinking about that made me sad all over again, but I threw the shield a few more times because Mrs. O'Leary insisted.**

**Soon she started barking – a sound slightly louder than artillery gun –**

"They're really loud," Ares informed everyone.

**like she needed to go for a walk. The other campers didn't think it was funny when she went to the bathroom in the arena.**

Travis glared at the wall when Will and Percy started snickering in his direction.

"What?" Connor asked confused.

Will and Percy started laughing loudly, making Travis' ears turn red.

"Hey, Travis," Will said loudly, poking his in the ribs obnoxiously.

"Remember when you fell face first on her... droppings?" Percy finished, holding his stomach, which hurt from laughing. The memory was fresh in his and Will's minds.

"PIPER READ." Travis demanded, not meeting anyone's eyes. His face was red as a tomato now.

**It had caused more than one unfortunate slip-and-slide accident. So I opened the gates of the arena, and she bounded straight toward the woods. **

"More than once, huh?" Will teased.

Travis gave him the finger.

**I jogged after her, not too concerned that she was getting ahead. Nothing in the woods could threaten Mrs. O'Leary.** **Even the dragons and giant scorpions ran away when she came close.**

"I wish she was allowed to play capture the flag with us..." Nico mused.

**When I finally tracked her down, she wasn't using the facilities. She was in a familiar clearing where the Council of Cloven Elders had once put Grover on trial.**

Percy scowled.

**The place didn't look so good. The grass had turned yellow. The three topiary thrones had lost all their leaves. **

Dionysus frowned internally.

**But that's not what surprised me. In the middle of the glade stood the weirdest trio I'd ever seen: Juniper the tree nymph, Nico di Angelo, and a very old, very fat satyr.**

"He was fat," Percy said, nodding - agreeing with his past self.

"AM NOT!" Nico yelled at him. Percy sent him an awkward look.

"I was talking about the satyr..."

"Oh."

**Nico was the only one who didn't seem freaked out by Mrs. O'Leary's appearance. **

Nico rolled his eyes.

"'Course not."

"Shut up."

"Make me!"

"Death Breath!"

"Sushi roll!"

"Moody!"

"Splashy!"

"Batman!"

"Aqua-man!"

"I hate you!"

"I love you!"

"I love you too cuz." Nico said, giving Percy a man-hug.

Everyone else, even the gods, were watching this highly amused.

**He looked pretty much like I'd seen him in my dream-an aviator's jacket, black jeans, and a T-shirt with dancing skeletons on it, like one of those Day of the Dead pictures.**

"Emo." Percy 'coughed'.

Nico shot him a glare.

"I prefer Mr. Sexy Beast."

Percy snorted.

"Riiiiiight..."

**His Stygian iron sword hung at his side. He was only twelve, but he looked much older and sadder.**

Nico looked down, but then looked up when he felt Percy put a comforting arm around him.

"Hey, it's okay, cuz. Alright?" Percy told him, his words were sincere.

Nico nodded and leaned into Percy more. They always hugged like this when one of them was feeling down, so it wasn't a strange sighed to the Greeks... except Leo and Piper. The two Romans stared at the two cousins in wonder.

**He nodded when he saw me, and then went back to scratching Mrs. O'Leary's ears.** **She sniffed his legs like he was the most interesting thing since rib-eye steaks. **

"I am," Nico mumbled against Percy's arm. His head was on his shoulder.

**Being the son of Hades, he'd probably been traveling in all sorts of hell hound-friendly places. **

**The old satyr didn't look nearly so happy.**

**"Will someone-what is this underworld creature doing in my forest!" He waved his arms and trotted on his hooves as if the grass were hot. "You there, Percy Jackson! Is this your beast?"**

"That fucking goat just needs to shut the Hades up," Nico mumbled again, only Percy could hear him. They both shook with silent laughter. Many confused looks were shot their way.

**"Sorry, Leneus," I said. "That's your name, right?" **

"Ew," Annabeth mumbled, rolling her eyes. She didn't like that satyr at all.

**he satyr rolled his eyes. His fur was dust-bunny gray, and a spider web grew between his horns. **

All of the girls wrinkled their noses in disgust.

**His belly would've made him an invincible bumper car.**

The throne room was filled with laughter from everyone.

"So true," Connor said, wiping his eyes.

**"Well, of course I'm Leneus. Don't tell me you've forgotten a member of the Council so quickly. ****Now, call off your beast!" **

**"WOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary said happily. **

**The old satyr gulped. "Make it go away! **

"I wish satyrs had souls... I would send hell hounds after him in the underworld all the time," Nico whispered to Percy, who nodded in agreement.

"I'd love to see _that." _

**Juniper, I will not help you under these circumstances!"**

"I think that he didn't want to help her at all." Percy spoke out loud.

"Why is that?" Aphrodite asked him.

"I think that he wanted Juniper all to himself." Percy replied, smiling smugly that he figured it out.

"What?" Annabeth asked her boyfriend, confused.

"Yeah, Turniper told me."

"Who's Turniper?" Will asked.

"A dryad who looks like Juniper a lot.. she lives behind the turnip bushes." Percy responded, shrugging.

**Juniper turned toward me.** **She was pretty in a dryad-y way, with her purple gossamer dress and her elfish face, but her eyes were green-** **Tinted with chlorophyll from crying.**

"Dryad-y? Really, Prissy?" Clarisse asked him, making a face.

Percy only rolled his eyes.

**"Percy," she sniffled. "I was just asking about Grover. I **_**know**_** something happened. He wouldn't stay gone this long if he wasn't in trouble. I was hoping that Leneus-" **

**"I told you!" the satyr protested. "You are better off without that traitor."**

"Told you," Percy sang, his lips formed into a victorious smirk.

**Juniper stamped her foot." He is not a traitor! He's the bravest satyr ever, and I want to know where he is!"**

"I bet that Leneus was probably cursing Grover internally." Nico said out loud, convinced that Percy - for once - was right.

_**"WOOF!"**_

**Leneus's knees started knocking. "I ...I won't answer questions with this hell hound sniffing my tail!" **

"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID." Travis yelled, coming out of his embarrassment - finally.

**Nico looked like he was trying to not crack up. **

Nico started laughing silently, making Percy's body slightly vibrate.

**"I'll walk the dog," he volunteered.** **He whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded after him to the far end of the grove.**

Percy started to chuckle.

"What?" he asked when he saw the many looks everyone was shooting him.

"What's so funny?" asked Hermes.

"'the far end of the _grove.'" _Percy quoted the book, "Grove_**r**. _Get it?" He asked.

Slowly, everyone began to understand.

"Jeez, Percy. The Romans made you smart." Chris told the son of Poseidon playfully.

**Leneus huffed indignantly and brushed the twigs off his shirt. "Now, as I was trying to explain, young lady, your boyfriend has not sent **_**any **_**reports since we voted him into exile."**

"Y U NO SHUT UP, LENEUS?" Apollo yelled, arms crossed angrily. For once, Artemis agreed with him.

**"You **_**tried **_**to vote him into exile," I corrected. "Chiron and Dionysus stopped you."**

"You corrected someone... wow." Katie said, giving Percy a playful smile, her grass-green eyes shinning.

Travis glared at Percy when he noticed this, but Percy ignored him, returning Katie's smile.

**"Bah! They are **_**honorary **_**Council members. It wasn't a proper vote."**

Dionysus glared at the book intensely.

"I'll have a _little chat _with him later," the god of wine grumbled.

**"I'll tell Dionysus you said that." **

"You better, Peter."

**Leneus paled. "I only meant ...Now see here, Jackson. This is none of your business."**

**"Grover's my friend," I said. "He wasn't lying to you about Pan's death. I saw it my self. You were just too scared to accept the truth." **

"You tell them, Perce!" Hermes cheered, grinning.

**Leneus's lips quivered.** **"No! Grover's a liar and good riddance. We're better off without him."**

"Um, no. I'm the god of lies and he's not lying." Hermes told the book, his expression blank.

**I pointed at the withered thrones. "If things are going so well, where are your friends? Looks like your Council hasn't been meeting lately."**

Ares grinned approvingly.

"I like you, kid." The god of war told Percy, much to the demigod's shock and horror.

**"Maron and Silenus ...I ...I'm sure they'll be back," he said, but I could hear the panic in his voice. "They're just taking some time off to think. It's been a very unsettling year.**

**"It's going to get a lot more unsettling," I promised. "Leneus, we **_**need **_**Grover. There's got to be a way you can find him with your magic."**

**The old satyr's eye twitched. "I'm telling you, I've heard nothing. Perhaps he's dead."**

"He's just a jealous old goat. Juniper would never go for him," Aphrodite declared, her eyes turned a beautiful red, reflecting her mood - angry.

**Juniper choked back a sob. "He's not dead, "I said. "I can feel that much."**

**"Empathy links," Leneus said disdainfully. "Very unreliable."**

"Nuh-uh." Percy said childishly, sticking his tongue out.

**"So ask around," I insisted. "Find him. There's a war coming. Grover was preparing the nature spirits."**

**"Without my permission! And it's not **_**our **_**war."**

"LIES. Leneus is getting on my last nerves, I swear." Clarisse said, clenching her fists. She was pretty fond of Grover too, just like everyone else who knew him.

**I grabbed him by the shirt, which seriously wasn't like me, but the stupid old goat was making me mad.**

Ares grinned, rubbing his hands together.

Poseidon shot his favorite son a bright smile, approvingly.

**"Listen, Leneus. When Kronos attacks, he's going to have **_**packs **_**of hell hounds. He's going to destroy everything in his path-mortals, gods, demigods. Do you think he'll let the satyrs go free?**

"Nope, they'll be the first to go," Artemis said, leaning back on her silver throne, relaxing.

**You're supposed to be a leader. So LEAD. Get out there and see what's happening. Find Grover and bring Juniper some news. Now, GO!"**

"DUUUUUUDE. THAT WAS BEAST," Apollo yelled, clapping along with Hermes and Ares.

**I didn't push him very hard, but he was kind of top-heavy.**

The females wrinkled their noses in disgust again.

**He fell on his furry rump, then scrambled to his hooves and ran away with his belly jiggling. "Grover will never be accepted! He will die an outcast!"**

"Um, no, he won't. I had a vision." Apollo said.

**When he'd disappeared into the bushes, Juniper wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, Percy. I didn't mean to get you involved. Leneus is still a lord of the Wild. You don't want to make an enemy of him."**

Percy's face was filled with amusement.

**"No problem," I said. "I've got worse enemies than overweight satyrs."**

"Like Gaea." Reyna said, "She wants to use you as a pawn."

Percy waved a hand at her carelessly, "That's what Saturn said... he failed."

**Nico walked back to us. "Good job, Percy. Judging from the trail of goat pellets, I'd say you shook him up pretty well."**

Nico smiled and leaned more into his cousin's shoulder. He considered Percy his big brother.

"I took a video of the whole thing," Nico whispered in Percy's ear.

Percy grinned evilly, "Let's watch it later."

Nico nodded.

**I was afraid I knew why Nico was here, but I tried for a smile.**

**"Welcome back. Did you come by just to see Juniper?" **

**He blushed. "Um, no. That was an accident.** **I kind of… dropped into the middle of their conversation."**

"Aw, Nicky got a crush?" Percy teased in Nico's ear, making him blush.

"NO!" Nico yelled, making everyone jump.

Piper glared at the two of them for interrupting her, but the two cousins glared back, ten times worse, making the charm speaker flinch. Nico and Percy weren't fond of her after what she said to Leo... and Leo seemed like a good guy, remind Percy of himself, just a little more hyper. Leo was probably the Latino combination of Nico and Percy together. Percy's sarcasm and weird humor with Nico's 10 year-old hyper-ness.

Piper looked away from the two guys, having a feeling that they didn't like her much. She read again.

**"He scared us to death!" Juniper said. "Right out of the shadows. But, Nico, you **_**are **_**the son of Hades and all. Are you sure you haven't heard anything about Grover?"**

Nico sighed, frustrated that he wasn't able to help much in that department.

**Nico shifted his weight. "Juniper, like I tried to tell you ...even if Grover died, he would reincarnate into something else in nature. I can't sense things like that, only mortal souls."**

**"But if you **_**do **_**hear anything?" she pleaded, putting her hand on his arm. "Anything at all?"**

**Nico's cheeks got even brighter red. "Uh, you bet. I'll keep my ears open."**

"Crush alert. Be happy Grover isn't here, he'd beat you with his reed pipes." Will said, chuckling.

Everyone who knew Grover laughed at the mental image of the son of Hades being beaten up by a jealous satyr.

**"We'll find him, Juniper," I promised. "Grover's alive, I'm sure. There must be a simple reason why he hasn't contacted us." **

**She nodded glumly. "I hate not being able to leave the forest. He could be anywhere, and I'm stuck here waiting.** **Oh, if that silly goat has gotten himself hurt-"**

Aphrodite wiped a tear away from her eye, "Love," she sighed happily, her eyes glazed over.

**Mrs. O'Leary bounded back over and took an interest in Juniper's dress. Juniper yelped. "Oh, no you don't! I know about dogs and trees. I'm gone!"**

"I like Juniper, a lot. She's awesome." Percy said, making Annabeth raise an eyebrow. As far as she knew, the two didn't talk much... now it turns out they do?

**She went **_**poof **_**into green mist. Mrs. O'Leary looked disappointed, but she lumbered off to find another target, leaving Nico and me alone.**

**Nico tapped his sword on the ground. A tiny mound of animal bone erupted from the dirt. They knit themselves together into a skeletal field mouse and scampered off. **

"You're so random, Death Breath." Percy chuckled.

**"I was sorry to hear about Beckendorf."**

**A lump formed in my throat. "How did you-"**

**"I talked to his ghost."**

"Of course you did," Hephaestus said, sighing loudly.

**"Oh... right." I'd never get used to the fact that this twelve-year-old kid spent more time talking with the dead than the living. "Did he say anything?"**

**"He doesn't blame you. He figured you'd be beating yourself up, and he said you shouldn't." **

Percy smiled sadly, many sending him small comforting smiles, to which he ignored. He didn't want pity.

**"Is he going to try for rebirth?"**

**Nico shook his head. "He's staying in Elysium. Said he's waiting for someone. **

Aphrodite looked down, tears were running down her face. Their love was so pure and real. It was heartbreaking.

**Not sure what he meant, but he seems okay with death."**

**It wasn't much comfort, but it was something.**

**"I had a vision you were on Mount Tam," I told Nico. "Was that-"**

**"Real," he said. "I didn't mean to be spying on the Titans, but I was in the neighborhood."**

"Yeah, neighborhood my podex." Percy said, rolling his eyes. The Olympians raised their eyebrows in amusement, along with Reyna and Jason.

"Podex?" Chris asked confused.

"Ass. Arse. Butt. Catch my drift?" Percy responded, fiddling with his fingers.

"Yeahh..." Chris answered.

"You know Latin?" Annabeth asked perplexed.

"Mhm. Chiron taught me when I was in sixth grade, also it came to me naturally when I was at Camp Jupiter. Reyna helped me too."

"Oh." Annabeth said in a small voice. When she tried to teach Percy Greek in their younger years, he didn't pay her much attention, but he payed attention to _Reyna?_ She growled lowly in jealousy. She would have a talk with the Roman _princess _later.

**"Doing what?"**

**Nico tugged at his sword belt. "Following a lead on ...you know, my family."**

"You're my family now," Nico whispered into Percy's shoulder. He was referring to Sally, who had asked Nico to call her mom, and Paul, who was like a second father to him, along with Poseidon, who always protected him from monsters when he was near the water. Percy smiled and hugged Nico. The Greeks smiled at them fondly. They all knew about their brotherly relationship and were happy for Nico.

Hades started at the exchange with a blank expression. He didn't know what to think.

**I nodded. I knew his past was a painful subject. Until two years ago, he and his sister Bianca had been frozen in time at a place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino.**

"It was awesome and aggravating too..." Nico said loudly, removing his head from his cousin's shoulder.

"Why aggravating?" Annabeth asked Nico, not looking at Percy once.

"Two words: Disco Darren."

Percy scrunched up his eyebrows. "I remember him."

Nico nodded, "Groovy," he said in a deep voice, sounding nothing like Disco Boy.

**They'd been there for like seventy years. Eventually a mysterious lawyer rescued them and checked them into a boarding school, but Nico had no memories of his life before the casino.** **He didn't know anything about his mother.**

"Maybe if you talk to Lady Lethe..." Percy mused quietly, but loud enough for Nico to hear him. Nico looked confused and then his eyes widened, nodding furiously. "Yes," he responded, "Come with me, after this chapter?" Nico asked his cousin. The child of the sea nodded.

**He didn't know who the lawyer was, or why they'd been frozen in time or allowed to go free. After Bianca died and left Nico alone, he'd been obsessed with finding answers.**

**"So how did it go?" I asked. "Any luck?"**

**"No," he murmured. "But I may have a new lead soon."**

Nico shook his head. The 'lead' hadn't helped him at all.

**"What's the lead?"**

**Nico chewed his lip. "That's not important right now. You know why I'm here."**

Percy rubbed his arm lightly.

"That didn't last long, did it?" He said, teasingly.

Nico raised his eyebrow, looking at him questioningly.

"The Little Tiber washed it away," Percy automatically said.

"What are you talking about?" Poseidon asked curiously.

The boys shook their heads, making zipping motions on their lips. Poseidon sighed and leaned back on his sea green throne.

**A feeling of dread started to build in my chest. Ever since Nico first proposed his plan for beating Kronos last summer, I'd had nightmares about it.**

Poseidon tensed.

**He would show up occasionally and press me for an answer, but I kept putting him off. **

**"Nico, I don't know," I said. "It seems pretty extreme."**

**"You've got Typhon coming in, what ...a week? Most of the other Titans are unleashed now and on Kronos' side. Maybe it's time to think extreme." **

**I looked back toward the camp.** **Even from this distance I could hear the Ares and Apollo campers fighting again, yelling curses and spouting bad poetry.**

Ares glared at the ground, huffing indignantly.

**"They're no match for the Titan army," Nico said.**

**"You know that. This comes down to you and Luke. And there's only one way you can beat Luke." **

Annabeth frowned and Percy noticed this. Did she still have feelings for Luke? It seemed so, the way she blushed when he was mentioned. Had she lied to him about only loving him as a brother?

**I remembered the fight on the **_**Princess Andromeda. **_**I'd been hopelessly outmatched. Kronos had almost killed me with a single cut to my arm, and I couldn't even wound him.** **Riptide had glanced right off his skin. **

Athena's eyes widened. She had figured it out.

**"We can give you the same power," Nico urged. "You heard the Great Prophecy. Unless you want to have your soul reaped by a cursed blade..."**

Annabeth frowned more deeply.

Percy tensed and Nico noticed, then he looked to where his cousin was looking and saw how Annabeth was frowning and her light blush on her cheeks.

Nico glared at the daughter of Athena, much to her confusion. She looked up with questioning eyes to her boyfriend, but saw that his jaw was clenched and his hands were balled up into fists. Annabeth was hit with realization and she stared at Percy, trying to catch his attention silently. She had to explain to him that she didn't have feelings for Luke, that she was thinking about him. No one else. Percy didn't look at her.

**I wondered how Nico had heard the prophecy – probably from some ghost.**

**"You can't prevent a prophecy," I said.**

**"But you can fight it." Nico had a strange, hungry light in his eyes.** **"You can become invincible."**

Athena's suspicions were confirmed. She and Hades shot the Ghost King a look.

**"Maybe we should wait. Try to fight without-"**

**"No!" Nico snarled. "It has to be now!"**

Poseidon sat up straighter and glared at Nico, along with Hades and Athena. They knew Nico's plan and if he was pressuring Percy into something so dangerous...

**I stared at him. I hadn't seen his temper flare like that in a long time.**

**"Um, you sure you're okay?"**

**He took a deep breath. "Percy, all I mean ...when the fighting starts, we won't be able to make the journey. This is our last chance. I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy, but two years ago my sister gave her life to protect you. I want you to honor that. Do whatever it takes to stay alive and defeat Kronos."**

Percy looked down guiltily. He felt terrible. Poseidon glared harder at the devil's spawn. That son of Hades was pressuring his son into something that could get him killed.

**I didn't like the idea. Then I thought about Annabeth calling me a coward, and I got angry.**

**Nico had a point. If Kronos attacked New York, the campers would be no match for his forces. I had to do something. Nico's way was dangerous-maybe even deadly. But it might give me a fighting edge.**

Percy sighed.

**"All right," I decided. "What do we do first?"**

**His cold creepy smile made me sorry I'd agreed. "First we'll need to retrace Luke's steps. We need to know more about his past, his childhood."**

Nico shot Percy an apologetic look. Percy just shrugged, "It had to be done," the sea prince told Nico.

**I shuddered, thinking about Rachel's picture from my dream – a smiling nine-year-old Luke. "Why do we need to know about that?"**

**"I'll explain when we get there," Nico said. "I've already tracked down his mother. She lives in Connecticut."**

Annabeth gulped.

"You sound like a stalker," Travis said, trying to lift the mood - it didn't work.

**I stared at him. I'd never thought much about Luke's mortal parent. I'd met his dad, Hermes, but his mom...**

**"Luke ran away when he was really young," I said. "I didn't think his mom was alive." **

**"Oh, she's alive." The way he said it made me wonder what was wrong with her. What kind of horrible person could she be?**

"She's so beautiful." Percy corrected his past self, "She's far from horrible."

Hermes shot him a small smile, his eyes held sadness.

**"Okay... "I said. "So how do we get to Connecticut? I can call Blackjack-"**

**"No." Nico scowled. "Pegasi don't like me and the feeling is mutual. **

"But I thought you liked Blackjack?" Katie asked Nico, clearly confused.

"I do. He's really funny."

"You can understand him?" Poseidon asked shocked. Hades was no better.

Nico and Percy nodded, "Lord Poseidon gave me his blessing, so now I can communicate with horses."

Everyone except the two cousins looked surprised.

**But there's no need for flying." He whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary came loping out of the woods.**

**"Your friend here can help." Nico patted her head.** **"You haven't tried shadow travel yet?"**

**"Shadow travel?"**

**Nico whispered in Mrs. O'Leary's ear. She tilted her head, suddenly alert.**

**"Hop on board," Nico told me.**

**I'd never considered riding a dog before, but Mrs. O'Leary was certainly big enough. I climbed onto her back and held her collar.**

"Of course you haven't," Reyna said, rolling her eyes playfully, which made Annabeth huff.

"That sounded so wrong... riding your _female dog._" Apollo said, smirking.

Artemis punched him, glaring at the Sun God.

**"This will make her very tired," Nico warned, "so you can't do it often. And it works best at night. But all shadows are part of the same substance. There is only one darkness, and creatures of the Underworld can use it as a road, or a door."**

**"I don't understand," I said.**

"Me either," Percy said.

Nico shot him a look and then shook his head... not worth it. His cousin was weird. _Too _weird.

**"No," Nico said. "It took me a long time to learn. But Mrs. O'Leary knows. Tell her where to go. Tell her Westport, the home of May Castellan."**

**"You're not coming?"**

**"Don't worry," he said. "I'll meet you there."**

**I was a little nervous, but I leaned down to Mrs. O'Leary's ear.**

Everyone leaned in closer to the book, eager to know what shadow traveling was like.

**"Okay, girl. Uh, can you take me to Westport, Connecticut? May Castellan's place?"**

**Mrs. O'Leary sniffed the air. She looked into the gloom of the forest. Then she bounded forward, straight into an oak tree.**

**Just before we hit, we passed into shadows as cold as the dark side of the moon.**

"Good thing too. Being hit by a tree is not fun," Percy grumbled.

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**A/N: **Aha, read the author's note at the top.

VOTE ON MY POLL ON MY PROFILE. I dunno when I'll be posting the next chapter... but just in case, I'll start with the next chapter now.

R&R.

-Sadie Breezy.


	7. Lost Memories

**This is not a reading chapter. Just read to find out, I think some of you guys might find the twist interesting? By the way, loving the lengthy reviews, although I wish that you anonymous reviewers would sign in so I could PM you and answer your questions. I also changed the rating back to T and If you can't handle cussing, (in Tre Melvin's words) "go seek death" or "kill yo self." Ha, I'm kidding. Anyways, look up Tre Melvin on youtube: ****thisisacommentary.**

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**The Realm of Forgetfulness: Lost Memories**

Sweat pants, hair tie, chillin' with no make up on. That's when you're the prettiest, I hope that you don't take it wrong.

-Drake

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Reyna was just about to pick up the book and open it to the next chapter when Nico spoke up. "Can we take a break, please?" He asked the gods, looking directly at Zeus, who nodded.

"You have one hour," the king of the gods said, shrinking to human size and walking out of the throne room, the rest of the Olympians behind him.

Percy and Nico made their way to the door quickly but a hand pulled on Percy's shirt, making him stop on his tracks and turn around, just to meet the stormy grey eyes of his girlfriend, Annabeth.

"Percy, we have to talk," she said urgently, almost in a pleading voice when she saw his unamused expression.

"I can't right now. I have some business to attend to. C'mon Nico." He said in a monotone, then gestured for Nico to start walking with him. "Maybe later," he said over his shoulder, but didn't turn to look at her. She stared at both of their backs and she stared at how Nico pulled them both in the shadows and watched them be engulfed into the darkness and disappear. She hung her head in disappointment.

She looked behind her and saw that the throne room was empty, except for Reyna - who was reading the first chapter she missed. Annabeth walked towards the Roman praetor and sat next to her, her expression unreadable.

"We need to talk," was all Annabeth said.

* * *

Nico and Percy stumbled from the shadows and looked at their surroundings, staying close together and keeping their guards up - they were after all, in the real of forgetfulness.

"Hello, visitors," a voice from the other side of the dark cave spoke, it was a soothing female voice - near a river. The water of the river was pitch black, not from pollution but it looked as if it was supposed to be that way.

Percy and Nico walked closer to the river, a woman with flowing black hair and pale porcelain skin sitting next to the river came in their view. The woman had her pale feet inside of the river, playing with the water - which became crystal clear when it was taken from the river (Nico assumed the water was black because of the dark). The woman looked at the two teenage boys and gave them a heart-warming smile.

"Come closer," she murmured, her eyes darting back to the depths of the river.

"Is that the river Lethe?" Percy asked, breaking the silence with his peculiar question. The goddess nodded.

"But I thought the river was in the Underworld, and by the looks of it, _this _place isn't the realm of the Dead." Percy continued, his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"The river in the Underworld is only a copy of my own river, it's just like any other river - except that it is blessed by me. The real River Lethe is here, in my realm. The Realm of Forgetfulness." The goddess explained, giving both boys a dazzling smile. It made them feel warm inside, almost having the same effect on them as Sally's smiles did. Almost.

The boys walked closer to the beautiful goddess and sat on the two cushioned chairs that she had just made appear.

"We are here to ask for your help, Lady Lethe," Percy said in a clear voice. His sea-green eyes traveling to the river longingly, wanting to feel the water - but he knew better.

"Oh?" the goddess raised an eyebrow, a small smile dancing on her lips and darting her gaze to the son of Hades. "I had a feeling I was going to get a visit from you soon, Ghost King."

Nico gave the goddess a hesitant smile and for the first time since they had arrived, he spoke, "So you know why we're here?"

The goddess of forgetfulness nodded, "It's no use keeping your memories locked away when you already know about our world, son of Hades," her voice lowered until it was carried away by the wind like an echo. She raised her pale right hand and placed it on Nico's forehead, closing her eyes.

A silver light began to form around her hand and glow brightly - Percy took this as a cue to close his eyes- and then it stopped after three seconds. The goddess removed her hand from the fourteen year old teenage boy and began to sing lowly in Latin. Percy understood every word.

_I, Goddess of Forgetfulness, Lady Lethe give Nico di Angelo, son of Hades and Maria di Angelo his memories - his life back. River Lethe, my realm, return the precious memories of the Ghost King's childhood. _

Nico opened his eyes, his onyx eyes were sparkling with happiness and were rimmed with a silver glow - he forced a weak smile on his lips, he began to sweat and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Percy rushed to his side, trying to get his cousin to wake up, but the goddess stopped him - "He's recovering his memories. Grab his hand," she told the son of Poseidon and then turned into water vapor, disappearing from her realm.

Percy grabbed the dark prince's hand and he was surrounded by darkness.

He heard a gasp next to him. He turned his head and was met with Nico's black eyes, who took his hand, both of them were standing in a creamy white room, a woman with olive skin was smiling down at a baby cradle with love in her warm brown eyes.

_"I love you, Nico,"she spoke with an Italian accent, her voice was beautiful and her eyes were shinning like the stars. She stroked the baby's cheek and gave him a peck on the forehead._

She didn't seem to notice the boys in the room - of course, since it was only memories, not time memory turned into smoke and the last thing they saw was Maria's warm smile playing upon her rosy pink lips.

_"Momma! __Papàè qui!" A small girl about the age of four ran up to her mother - who was in the kitchen cooking dinner. The small girl looked similar to Maria, the same nose, the same lips, except the eyes - they were Tartarus black - filled with love. _

_Maria di Angelo smiled at her daughter and picked her up, brushing away crumbs of toast from her beautiful white lace dress, "Okay, let's go see your father." _

_Maria walked into the small family room, where she found a handsome and pale man in a black suit playing with one-year old Nico. The man - Hades- looked up when he heard the soft footsteps of the woman he loved and gave her a heart-melting smile while pecking Nico on his forehead and then setting him down on the white couch and giving him his favorite toy - a small red airplane. _

_"Maria," Hades spoke in a smooth voice, "My love, I've missed you," the Lord of the Dead embraced the Italian woman lovingly. _

The memory once again dissolved into thick gray smoke.

_"You have a wife," Maria told Hades, who was looking at her with pleading black eyes. His expression was filled with despair and longing - "I know, but I rule over the Underworld, please - let me build you a palace there, keep out children safe." Maria shook her head 'no' and pecked his cheek lightly. _

Nico smiled sadly at what he was seeing, his father really had loved Maria di Angelo and him - along with Bianca. He could see why Hades preferred his sister - she was the replica of Maria - the one woman he had ever loved more than he ever loved Persephone.

"Let's go," Nico told the child of the sea, his expression was relaxed. Both boys closed their eyes and re-opened them again when they heard the soothing sound of the river running.

"You okay?" Percy asked his cousin worriedly. He was afraid that the memories would hurt him.

"Yeah," Nico responded, his eyes were sparkling with happiness - they no longer held the silver in them, his eyes weren't as black as before. His eyes were chocolate brown - just like his mother's.

"Even if we didn't see all of my memories there, I keep getting new ones in my head," Nico told the sea prince, his voice was happy and his smile was sincere and relaxed. Percy gave the son of Hades a warm smile and embraced him in a brotherly hug.

"Thank you for being here for me Percy," Nico told the raven haired boy, "It means a lot. Especially since I know I can trust you. Even if Thalia had been here, I would've still chosen you,"

Percy was confused, "Why?"

"Because I'm closer to you. You always know what to say to make me feel better. You've been here for me all this time, even after I tried to kill you - you still never gave up on me. I thank you for that, brother." Nico's words made Percy grin, they touched his heart and made him feel warm inside. He was glad that Nico considered him as a brother and trusted him.

"It's no problem, Nico. I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

The boys shared a small smile and Nico held his hand out - "Ready?"

"Ready." Percy said, taking Nico's hand in his own - both of them jumping into the shadows.

Lady Lethe was smiling from the depths of her river - her eyes were filled with relief - the boy finally had his memories back.

"Good luck, son of Hades." Lethe whispered in the shadows.

* * *

Reyna raised an eyebrow at the daughter of Athena, but nodded and put down the book.

"What about?"

"Percy."

Reyna gave the blond a smile. "You're jealous, aren't you?"

Annabeth was taken aback by Reyna's prediction - which was correct.

"It's obvious, don't deny it." Reyna told the architect in an amused tone.

"Well, how can I not be? He seems to be paying more attention to you than me. Is there something going on between the two of you? Be honest, please."

Reyna chuckled and shook her head, "We're just best friends. You see, when we were young, in kindergarten, we used to be in the same class. We used to be next door neighbors. The day before he got expelled from kindergarten, we made each other blue jellybean bracelets and promised that someday we would marry each other," Reyna explained lightly - Annabeth growled at this.

"But we saw each other again in Circe's Island, and he didn't recognize my sister or me, so we left it at that - since I didn't recognize him either, until Circe told me his name was Percy Jackson, then a week ago, he showed up at camp, he went on a quest to free Thanatos, saved Camp Jupiter's legacy from being lost forever, and became praetor. Once he was praetor, he told me he had regained his memories... and he remembered me."

Annabeth released a breath she didn't realize she was holding, "Do you like him as in more than a friend?"

Reyna shook her head 'no'. "I used to like someone else, then he found another one," the Roman trailed off, her eyes were gazing longingly at the seat where Jason had been previously been sitting.

"The Venus girl took him away," Reyna mumbled sadly. Annabeth put a comforting arm around the daughter of Bellona.

"This isn't any of my business, but I think you would be a better choice for Jason, instead of Piper."

"Really?" Reyna asked the blond, with shock in her dark eyes. Annabeth nodded, "I can tell Piper is developing a small crush on Leo. Give it time - I am no goddess of love, but if you and Jason are meant to be, then somehow, this whole love mess will be fixed." Annabeth told the female praetor, patting her hand and standing up, walking back to her seat when she saw the Olympians and the Greeks and Roman walk back in the room.

Once everyone was seated, Zeus noticed that there were three readers missing.

"Where are they?" the King of the Gods questioned.

Apollo was the one to answer his question - "They told me they would be back later, and to read without them."

Zeus nodded and gestured for Reyna to read, eyeing Percy and Nico's seats warily along with the Hermes's throne. He could only guess that the trio was up to no good.

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**A/N: Ta-da! Review please? :) **


	8. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Hey guys, three updates three days in a row! I'm on a roll here! Haha. Thanks for the reviews and glad you guys liked the previous chapter. You'll find out what Percy, Nico, and Hermes are up to in this chapter - although, I thought it would be kind of obvious with the many hints I dropped for the past two chapters? Oh well. Thanks for reading.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Uncle Rick Trolldan does.

**ATTENTION: I need a beta. PM me if you're insterested. The beta isn't just for this story but you will also beta my one-shots and other stories because I sometimes don't catch my mistakes. THANK YOU. **

Side note: There might be some spelling mistakes here, but I'l go over them tomorrow - I was in a hurry to type this, cause I'm hungry.

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**Chapter 6: My Cookies Get Scorched**

"See this is just a nightmare, so I blink twice, Open up my eyes hopin' she'd be in my sight" - Lil Wayne

* * *

"**My Cookies Get Scorched,"** Read Reyna, raising an eyebrow slightly.

**I don't recommend shadow travel if you're scared of:**

**a) The dark**

"I love the dark," Hades said in a monotone.

**b) Cold shivers up your spine**

Apollo shivered.

**c) Strange noises**

"Please, there's always strange noises at camp," Travis said, refering to the monsters in the woods.

**d) Going so fast you feel like your face is peeling off**

"I bet it's better than skateboarding," Connor said, envy evident in his tone of voice.

**In other words, I thought it was awesome. One minute I couldn't see anything. I could only feel Mrs. O'Leary's fur and my fingers wrapped around the bronze links of her dog collar.**

**The next minute the shadows melted into a new scene. We were on a cliff in the woods of Connecticut. At least, it looked like Connecticut from the few times I'd been there, lots of trees, low stone walls, big houses.**

"Trees, I love trees!" Katie said happily, like the daughter of Demeter she is; Demeter smiled at her daughter.

**Down one side of the cliff, a highway cut through a ravine. Down the other side was someone's backyard. The property was huge-more wilderness than lawn. The house was a two-story white Colonial.**

Apollo stared at the throne room door way longinly, wondering what Hermes and the two demigods were up to.

**Despite the fact that it was right on the other side of the hill from a highway, it felt like it was in the middle of nowhere. I could see a light glowing in the kitchen window.**

**A rusty old ****swing set**** stood under an apple tree.**

Apollo frowned - and suddendly, he was very glad Hermes wasn't there to listen to this.

**I couldn't imagine living in a house like this, with an actual yard and everything. I'd lived in a tiny ****apartment**** or a school dorm my whole life. If this was** **Luke's home, I wondered why he'd ever wanted to leave.**

Dionysus cleared his throat, "I have to go attend some business, I'll be back later," and before anyone could argue with him, he teleported away.

Reyna started reading again:

**Mrs. O'Leary staggered. I remembered what Nico had said about shadow travel draining her, so I slipped off her back. She let out a huge toothy yawn that would've scared a T-rex, then turned in a circle and flopped down so hard the ground shook.**

The Greeks who had met the friendly hell-hound smiled at her mention - she was very sweet.

**Nico appeared right next to me, as if the shadows had darkened and created him. He stumbled, but I caught his arm.**

"Must wear him out a lot," Demeter commented.

**"I'm okay," he managed, rubbing his eyes.**

**"How did you do that?"**

**"Practice, a few times running into walls, a few accidental trips to China."**

The Olympians and the half-bloods all snickered.

**Mrs. O'Leary started snoring. If it hadn't been for the roar of traffic behind us, I'm sure she would've woken up the whole neighborhood.**

**"Are you going to take a nap too?" I asked Nico. **

**He shook his head. "The first time I shadow traveled, I passed out for a week. **

Hades frowned, worried for his son, but he knew that that was one of the side effects of shadow traveling.

**Now it just makes me a little drowsy, but I can't do it more than once or twice a night.**

"**Mrs. O'Leary won't be going anywhere for a while."**

**"So we've got some quality time in Connecticut." I gazed at the white Colonial house.** **"What now?"**

Apollo flinched - Hermes had told him what had happened. Hades just stared at his feet, trying to avoid eye-contact and seem less guilty.

**"We ring the doorbell," Nico said.**

**If I were Luke's mom, I would not have opened my door at night for two strange kids. But I wasn't **_**anything **_**like Luke's mom.**

"'Course not," Annabeth mumbled, grimacing.

**I knew that even before we reached the front door. The sidewalk was lined with those little stuffed beanbag animals you see in gift shops.** **There were miniature lions, pigs, dragons, hydras, even a teeny Minotaur in a little Minotaur diaper.**

Everyone blinked, but decided not to say anything.

**Judging from their sad shape, the beanbag creatures had been sitting out here a long time – since the snow melted last spring at least.** **One of the hydras had a tree sapling sprouting between its necks. The front porch was infested with wind chimes. Shiny bits of glass and metal clinked in the breeze.** **Brass ribbons tinkled like water and made me realize I needed to use the bathroom.**

**I didn't know how Ms. Castellan could stand all the noise.**

"In Ms. Castellan's condition..." Annabeth left her sentence hanging, which caused her to get many confused looks her way.

**The front door was painted turquoise. The name CASTELLAN was written in English, and below in Greek: ÄéïéêçôÞò öñïõñßïõ.**

**Nico looked at me. "Ready?"**

**He'd barely tapped the door when it swung open.**

**"Luke!" the old lady cried happily.**

Annabeth took in a deep breath and then she glared at Hades - Percy had told her that it was he who was responsible for her madness.

**She looked like someone who enjoyed sticking her fingers in electrical sockets.** **Her white hair stuck out in tufts all over her head. Her pink housedress was covered in scorch marks and smears of ash. When she smiled, her face looked unnaturally stretched, and the high-voltage light in her eyes made me wonder if she was blind.**

Annabeth burried her face in her curly princess hair, trying to cover up her expression and so that no one could see the tears that were sure to come soon. Katie, who was sitting closest to her - put a comforting arm around the blond daughter of Athena, trying to soothe her with soft words.

**"Oh, my dear boy!" She hugged Nico. I was trying to figure out why she thought Nico was Luke (they looked absolutely nothing alike), when she smiled at me and said, "Luke!"**

"Nico is pale; Luke was pale; Nico has black hair; Luke had blond hair - yup, nothing alike," Chris muttered to himself quietly, so that only Clarisse was able to hear him.

**She forgot all about Nico and gave me a hug. She smelled like burned cookies. She was as thin as a scarecrow, but that didn't stop her from almost crushing me.**

**"Come in!" she insisted. "I have your lunch ready!"**

Hera was in the verge of crying. May was the only woman she had ever approved of - but now, she couldn't think of a possible medicine or therapy to cure her insanity.

_Insanity... Madness... _

Her eyes widened and she stared at his throne. Her eyes softened and she understood now.

**She ushered us inside. The living room was even weirder than the front lawn. Mirrors and candles filled every available space. I couldn't look anywhere without seeing my own reflection.** **Above the mantel, a little bronze Hermes flew around the second hand of a ticking clock. I tried to imagine the god of messengers ever falling in love with this old woman, but the idea was too bizarre.**

"She was a good woman," Hera said, wiping away her tears. She remebered how happy she had made Hermes.

**Then I noticed the framed picture on the mantel, and I froze. It was exactly like Rachel's sketch-Luke around nine years old, with blond hair and a big smile and two missing teeth.** **The lack of a scar on his face made him look like a different person –carefree and happy. How could Rachel have known about that picture?**

Apollo's eyes widened - his Oracle. Yes, she had to be, but he couldn't risk it again, he couln't bear driving another mortal into insanity.

**"This way, my dear!" Ms. Castellan steered me toward the back of the house.** **"Oh, I told them you would come back. I knew it!"**

By now, everyone in the throne room was frowning, feeling sorry for the woman - and Apollo was once again relieved that Hermes wasn't there.

**She sat us down at the kitchen table. Stacked on the counter were hundreds-I mean hundreds-of Tupperware boxes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches inside.** **The ones on the bottom were green and fuzzy, like they'd been there for a long time. **

Annabeth flinced in rememberance.

**The smell reminded me of my sixth grade locker – ****and that's not a good thing.**

By now, all of the females in the room were wrinkling their noses in disgust while the males were indifferent.

**On top of the oven was a stack of cookie sheets. Each one had a dozen burned cookies on it. In the sink was a mountain of empty plastic Kool-Aid pitchers.**

**A beanbag Medusa sat by the faucet like she was guarding the mess.**

Many raised eye-brows, but judging by Apollo's warning look - it wasn't wise to make any comments against May Castellan.

**Ms. Castellan started humming as she got out peanut butter and jelly and started making a new sandwich. Something was burning in the oven.**

**I got the feeling more cookies were on the way.**

Hades frowned - it was _his _fault that Hermes' lover had turned insane... if only there was some way to fix it.

**Above the sink, taped all around the window, were dozens of little pictures cut from magazines and newspaper ads-pictures of Hermes from the FTD Flowers logo and Quickie Cleaners, pictures of the caduceus from medical ads.**

All of the goddesses had tears in their eyes by this point - it was heartbreaking to hear about the poor woman and her terrible fate.

**My heart sank. I wanted to get out of that room, but Ms. Castellan kept smiling at me as she made the sandwich, like she was making sure I didn't bolt.**

**Nico coughed. "Um, Ms. Castellan?"**

**"Mm?"**

**"We need to ask you about your son."**

Annbeth looked up, her eyes rimmed red.

**"Oh, yes! They told me he would never come back. But I knew better."**

Everyone took in a deep breath, not daring to say anything.

**She patted my cheek affectionately, giving me peanut butter racing stripes.**

**"When did you last see him?" Nico asked.**

**Her eyes lost focus.**

**"He was so young when he left," she said wistfully.** **"Third grade. That's too young to run away! He said he'd be back for lunch.** **And I waited. He likes peanut butter sandwiches and cookies and Kool- Aid.** **He'll be back for lunch very soon..."**

Annabeth gulped, she wished she had her Seaweed Brain with her to comfort her, but she knew he was upset with her.

**Then she looked at me and smiled.**

**"Why, Luke, there you are! You look so handsome. You have your father's eyes."**

"He _used _to." Will muttered - only the Stolls heard him, and they nodded sadly.

**She turned toward the pictures of Hermes above the sink. "Now, there's a good man. Yes, indeed. He comes to visit me, you know."**

"Of course he does, he still loves her," Apollo said, his voice was strained and his blue eyes were holding sadness for his half-brother.

**The clock kept ticking in the other room. I wiped the peanut butter off my face and looked at Nico pleadingly, like **_**Can we get out of here now?**_

**"Ma'am," Nico said. "What, uh ...what happened to your eye?"**

Athena frowned in realization.

**Her gaze seemed fractured-like she was trying to focus on him through a kaleidoscope. "Why, Luke, you know the story. It was right before you were born, wasn't it?** **I'd always been special, able to see through the ...whatever-they-call-it."**

"Just like Sally," Reyna realized - Yes, she remembered Sally Jackson. She was like a mother to her. Annabeth just gave her a questioning look, but she shook it off.

**"The Mist?" I said.**

**"Yes, dear." She nodded encouragingly. "And they offered me an important job. That's how special I was!" **

"She," Athena's voice was shaky, "She was going to be the Oracle."

**I glanced at Nico, but he looked as confused as I was.**

**"What sort of job?" I asked. "What happened?"**

Hades flinced, his dark Tartarus eyes were filled with guilt.

**She frowned. Her knife hovered over the sandwich bread.**

**"Dear me, it didn't work out, did it?** **Your father warned me not to try. He said it was too dangerous. But I had to. It was my destiny!** **And now ... still can't get the images out of my head. They make everything seem so fuzzy.** **Would you like some cookies?" **

"No, no , no," Hades muttered, clenching his fists while Apollo glared the the god of the Underworld.

**She pulled a tray out of the oven and dumped a dozen lumps of chocolate chip charcoal on the table.**

**"Luke was so kind," Ms. Castellan murmured.** **"He left to protect me, you know. He said if he went away, the monsters wouldn't threaten me. But I told him the monsters are no threat! They sit outside on the sidewalk all day, and they never come in."**

"He wanted to protect him mother," Chris mused silently, closing his eyes - in a way, Luke and Percy were similar, and in a way, they were not.

**She picked up the little stuffed Medusa from the windowsill.**

**"Do they, Mrs. Medusa? No, no threat at all."**

**She beamed at me. "I'm so glad you came home. I knew you weren't ashamed of me!"**

"He wasn't ashamed of her, Luke loved his mother," Annabeth told everyone in the throne room, her voice was cold and strained, her grey eyes were steely.

**I shifted in my seat. I imagined being Luke sitting at this table, eight or nine years old, and just beginning to realize that my mother wasn't all there.**

Everyone was frowning deeply now. Some even felt sorry for Luke and for May.

**"Ms. Castellan," I said.**

**"Mom," she corrected.**

**"Um, yeah. Have you seen Luke since he left home?"**

**"Well, of course!"**

Athena narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

**I didn't know if she was imagining that or not. For all I knew, every time the mailman came to the door he was Luke.**

**But Nico sat forward expectantly.**

Many stared at the door, expecting the trio to walk through any time now.

**"When?" he asked. "When did Luke visit you last?"**

**"Well, it was ...Oh goodness..." A shadow passed across her face.**

**"The last time, he looked so different. A scar. A terrible scar, and his voice so full of pain..."**

Annabeth sat up.

**"His eyes," I said. "Were they gold?"**

**"Gold?" She blinked. "No. How silly. Luke has blue eyes. Beautiful blue eyes!"**

**So Luke really had been here, and this had happened before last summer – before he'd turned into Kronos.**

Athena nodded - her theory was proving to be correct so far.

**"Ms. Castellan?" Nico put his hand on the old woman's arm. "This is very important. Did he ask you for anything?"**

**She frowned as if trying to remember. "My-my blessing. Isn't that sweet?" She looked at us uncertainly. "He was going to a river, and he said he needed my blessing.**

Everyone who hadn't known this already (The two Romans, the two new Greeks and the Olympians) gasped in surprise and sat up straighter, paying more attention to the book now.

**I gave it to him. Of course I did."**

**Nico looked at me triumphantly. "Thank you, ma'am. That's all the information we-"**

**Ms. Castellan gasped. She doubled over, and her cookie tray clattered to the floor. **

Apollo started hypervilating. NONONO.

**Nico and I jumped to our feet. **

**"Ms. Castellan?" I said.**

_**"AHHHH," **_**She straightened. I scrambled away and almost fell over the kitchen table, because her eyes-her eyes were glowing green.**

"Just like Rachel," Will mumbled, playing with the end of his orange camp shirt worriedly.

_**"My child," **_**she rasped in a much deeper voice. **_**"Must protect him! Hermes, help! Not my child! Not his fate **_**-**_**no!"**_

Annabeth was hugging her legs, remembering how May had acted when she had gone to her house with Luke and Thalia when she was only seven.

**She grabbed Nico by the shoulders and began to shake him as if to make him understand. **_**"Not his fate!"**_

Many looked afraid, and they were holding in their breath. Reyna's hands were shaking as she read, her voice unsteady.

**Nico made a strangled scream and pushed her away. He gripped the hilt of his sword. **

"Don't hurt her," Aphrodite whimpered.

**"Percy, we need to get out-"**

**Suddenly she collapsed. I lurched forward and caught her, before she could hit the edge of the table. I managed to get her into a chair.**

The females all had fearful looks in their faces, and Annabeth was still shaking.

**"Ms. C?" I asked.**

**She muttered something incomprehensible and shook her head.**

**"Goodness. I... I dropped the cookies. How silly of me."**

"Rachel," Will mumbled again, it was Rachel's same reaction to when she gave a prophecy.

**She blinked, and her eyes were back to normal-or at least, what they had been before. The green glow was gone.**

**"Are you okay?" I asked.**

**"Well, of course, dear. I'm fine. Why do you ask?"**

**I glanced at Nico, who mouthed the word **_**Leave.**_

The demigods nodded in encouragement.

**"Ms. C, you were telling us something," I said. "Something about your son."**

**"Was I?" she said dreamily. "Yes, his blue eyes. We were talking about his blue eyes. Such a handsome boy!"**

**"We have to go," Nico said urgently. "We'll tell Luke ...uh, we'll tell him you said hello." **

Aphrodite whimpered again.

**"But you can't leave!" She got shakily to her feet, and I backed away. I felt silly being scared of a frail old woman, but the way her voice had changed, the way she'd grabbed Nico...**

**"Hermes will be here soon," she promised. "He'll want to see his boy!"**

Again, everyone stared at the throne room entrace, waiting for the trio to walk in - they were taking too long.

**"Maybe next time," I said. "Thank you for-" I looked down at the burned cookies scattered on the floor. "Thanks for everything."**

Everyone started breathing normally again - the mood was depressing and the atmosphere was tense.

**She tried to stop us, to offer us Kool-Aid, but I had to get out of that house. On the front porch, she grabbed my wrist and I almost jumped out of my skin.**

**"Luke, at least be safe. Promise me you'll be safe."**

**"I will... Mom."**

The goddesses' eyes softened. Percy was such a sweetheart.

**That made her smile. She released my wrist, and as she closed the front door I could hear her talking to the candles: "You hear that? He will be safe. I told you he would be!"**

**As the door shut, Nico and I ran.**

"Good, running is good," Ares said shakily, so unlike himself.

**The little beanbag animal on the sidewalk seemed to grin at us as we passed.**

**Back at the cliff, Mrs. O'Leary had found a friend.**

"Let's hope it's not a monster," Hephaestus said, his voice wasn't shaky, but sadness was noticible in his eyes. Leo nodded, agreeing with his father.

**A cozy campfire crackled in a ring of stones. A girl about eight years old was sitting cross-legged next to Mrs. O'Leary, scratching the hellhound's ears.**

Hestia blushed slightly and kept poking the hearth.

**The girl had mousy brown hair and a simple brown dress. She wore a scarf over her head so she looked like a pioneer kid-like the ghost of **_**Little House on the Prairie **_**or something. She poked the fire with a stick, and it seemed to glow more richly red than a normal fire.**

Many smiles were sent towards the goddess of architecture.

**"Hello," she said.**

**My first thought was: monster. **

"I don't blame you," Hestia told the book, smiling.

**When you're a demigod and you find a sweet little girl alone in the woods-that's typically a good time to draw your sword and attack.** **Plus, the encounter with Ms. Castellan had rattled me pretty bad.**

**But Nico bowed to the little girl. "Hello again, Lady."**

"Who knew _Nico _had manners?" Katie said, smiling, much to Travis' irritation towards the Ghost King.

**She studied me with eyes as red as the firelight. I decided it was safest to bow.**

"Good," Zeus nodded in approval.

**"Sit, Percy Jackson," she said. "Would you like some dinner?**

**After staring at moldy peanut butter sandwiches and burned cookies,** **I didn't have much of an appetite, but the girl waved her hand and a picnic appeared at the edge of the fire.** **There were plates of roast beef, baked potatoes, buttered carrots, fresh bread, and a whole bunch of other foods I hadn't had in a long time.**

Suddendly, Leo's stomach started growling loudly.

"I'm hungry," he said - the guys all nodding and agreeing with him while rubbing their growling stomachs.

"After this chapter we can have lunch," Artemis declared.

**My stomach started to rumble. It was the kind of home-cooked meal people are supposed to have but never do. The girl made a five-foot-long dog biscuit appear for Mrs. O'Leary, who happily began tearing it to shreds.**

The Greeks (minus Leo and Piper) smiled at Mrs. O'Leary's strange ways of being cute.

**I sat next to Nico. We picked up our food, and I was about to dig in when I thought better of it.**

**I scraped part of my meal into the flames, the way we do at camp.**

The gods smiled hungrily, while the goddesses rolled their eyes.

**"For the gods," I said.**

"Thank you, Percy," Apollo grinned, his eyes were no longer cold and sad, instead, it was slowly being replaced by happiness.

**The little girl smiled. "Thank you. As tender of the flame, I get a share of every sacrifice, you know."**

**"I recognize you now," I said. "The first time I came to camp, you were sitting by the fire, in the middle of the commons area."**

Hestia had a huge grin on her eight-year old face.

**"You did not stop to talk," the girl recalled sadly. "Alas, most never do. Nico talked to me. He was the first in many years.** **Everyone rushes about. No time for visiting family."**

**"You're Hestia," I said. "Goddess of the Hearth."**

Annabeth gave the book a small smile, looks like her Seaweed Brain does pay attention to her once in a while.

**She nodded.**

**Okay ...so she looked eight years old. I didn't ask. I'd learned that gods could look any way they pleased.**

**"My lady," Nico asked, "why aren't you with the other Olympians, fighting Typhon?"**

**"I'm not much for fighting." Her red eyes flickered. I realized they weren't just reflecting the flames. They were filled with flames – but not like Ares's eyes.**

"There's nothing wrong with my eyes," Ares grumbled.

**Hestia's eyes were warm and cozy. "Besides," she said, "Someone has to keep the home fires burning while the other gods are away."**

**"So you're guarding Mount Olympus?" I asked.**

**"Guard may be too strong a word. But if you ever need a warm place to sit and a home-cooked meal, you are welcome to visit.** **Now eat." My plate was empty before I knew it. Nico scarfed his down just a fast.**

"Lucky you didn't choke on your food," Demeter said, rolling her eyes at book-Nico and book-Percy.

**"That was great," I said. "Thank you, Hestia."**

**She nodded. "Did you have a good visit with May Castellan?"**

**For a moment I'd almost forgotten the old lady with her bright eye and her maniacal smile, the way she'd suddenly seemed possessed.**

**"What's wrong with her, exactly?" I asked.**

**"She was born with a gift," Hestia said. "She could see through the** **Mist."**

**"Like my mother," I said. And I was also thinking, **_**Like Rachel **_**"But the glowing eyes thing-"**

Apollo perked up at the mention of Rachel, but his shoulders sagged - he wasn't going to ruin the mortal's life.

**"Some bear the curse of sight better than others," the goddess said sadly. "For a while, May Castellan had many talents. She attracted the attention of Hermes himself.** **They had a beautiful baby boy. For a brief time, she was happy. And then she went too far."**

Hera sighed, imagining what could have happened to destroy the beautiful picture that had just been painted in her head.

**I remembered what had said: **_**They offered me an important job... It didn't work out. **_**I wondered what kind of job left you like that.**

**"One minute she was all happy," I said. "And then she was freaking out about her son's fate, like she knew he'd turned into Kronos.**

"Maybe she did know his fate," Hades mused outloud, making everyone wonder.

**What happened to ...to divide her like that?"**

**The goddess's face darkened. "That is a story I do not like to tell. **

"Hermes told you?" Artemis asked Hestia; the goddess of architecture just nodded sadly - it was a sad story.

**But** **May Castellan saw too much. If you are to understand your enemy** **Luke, you must understand his family."**

**I thought about the sad little pictures of Hermes taped above May Castellan's sink. **

"She's the only mortal woman I've ever approved of," Hera sighed, looking down, ignoring the many surprised glances directed her way.

**I wondered if had been so crazy when Luke was little. That green-eyed fit could've seriously scared a nine-year-old kid.** **And if Hermes never visited, if he'd left Luke alone with his mom all those years...**

The Olympians frowned, and some sent glares towards Hera and Zeus, stupid Ancient Laws prohibited them to visit their lovers and their children.

**"No wonder Luke ran away," I said. "I mean, it wasn't right to leave his mom like that, but still – he was just a kid. Hermes shouldn't have abandoned them."**

Zeus seemed to shrink under everyone's glares.

**Hestia scratched behind Mrs. O'Leary's ears. The hellhound wagged her tail and accidentally knocked over a tree.**

**"It's easy to judge others," Hestia warned. "But will you follow Luke's path? Seek the same powers?"**

"It had to be done," Clarisse whispered unhappily; she still hadn't forgiven Luke and she wasn't going to - she believed that he only turned against Kronos because when he saw that things weren't going his way - he wanted to make everyone think he was a hero in the end to achieve Elysium.

**Nico set down his plate. "We have no choice, my lady. It's the only way Percy stands a chance."**

**"Mmm." Hestia opened her hand and the fire roared. Flame shot thirty feet into the air. Heat slapped me in the face. Then the fire died back down to normal.**

"Hestia smiled sheepishly.

**"Not all powers are spectacular." Hestia looked at me. "Sometimes the hardest power to master is the power of yielding. Do you believe me?"**

**"Uh-huh," I said. Anything to keep her from messing with her flame powers again.**

The Olympians chuckled and Hestia blushed lightly. The half-bloods sent bright smiles her way.

**The goddess smiled. "You are a good hero, Percy Jackson. Not too proud.** **I like that. But you have much to learn. When Dionysus was made a god, I gave up my throne for him. It was the only way to avoid a civil war among the gods."**

"Dionysus is very thankful for it," Poseidon told his favorite sister, making her blush darken.

**"It unbalanced the Council," I remembered. "Suddenly there were seven guys and five girls."**

**Hestia shrugged. "It was the best solution, not a perfect one. Now I tend the fire. I fade slowly into the background. No one will ever write epic poems about the deeds of Hestia.**

"Puh-lease," Will said, rolling his eyes while smiling, "Percy is always talking about how you're his favorite Olympian and he even recited a poem for you in the future. He loves you!"

The Greeks all nodded in comfirmation. What was this? Make-Hestia-Blush-Day?

**Most demigods don't even stop to talk to me. But that is no matter. I keep the peace. I yield when necessary. Can you do this?"**

**"I don't know what you mean."**

**She studied me. "Perhaps not yet. But soon. Will you continue your quest?"**

"I'm so confused," Leo grumbled, taking out a notepad and beginning to sketch a model of a monster-proof sports car made out of Celestial Bronze.

**"Is that why you're here- to warn me against going?"**

**Hestia shook her head. "I am here because when all else fails, when all the other mighty gods have gone off to war, I am all that's left. Home. Hearth. I am the last Olympian.**

Hestia smiled widely in realization and after a few seconds, many joined her.

"You have a book named after you! Lucky!" Apollo whinned.

**You must remember me when you face your final decision.**

**I didn't like the way she said **_**final.**_

**I looked at Nico, then back at Hestia's warm glowing eyes. "I have to continue, my lady. I have to stop Luke... I mean Kronos."**

"Brave hero," Hephaestus whispered, thinking of his own son.

**Hestia nodded. "Very well. I cannot be of much assistance, beyond what I have already told you. But since you sacrificed to me, I can return you to your own hearth. I will see you again, Percy, on Olympus."**

**Her tone was ominous, as though our next meeting would not be happy.** **The goddess waved her hand, and everything faded.**

**Suddenly I was home. Nico and I were sitting on the couch in my mom's apartment on the Upper East Side. **

"Wow," was all Connor said amused.

**That was the good news.**

"Good," Hades said nodding.

**The bad news was that the rest of the living room was occupied by Mrs. O'Leary.**

"Oh."

**I heard a muffled yell from the bedroom. Paul's voice said, "Who put this wall of fur in the doorway?"**

"Oh, mortals, so ignorant," Hera huffed.

**"Percy?" my mom called out. "Are you here? Are you all right?"**

**"I'm here!" I shouted back.**

_**"WOOF!" **_**Mrs. O'Leary tried to turn in a circle to find my mom, knocking all the pictures off the walls. She's only met my mom once before (long story), but she loves her.**

"Of course, it's impossible _not _to love Sally," Poseidon said recalling some amazing memories - his eyes were glazed over and a small smile was playing on his lips - in other words; he looked like a love sick fool.

**It took a few minutes, but we finally got things worked out. After destroying most of the furniture in the living room and probably making our neighbors really mad, we got my parents out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where we sat around the kitchen table.**

**Mrs. O'Leary still took up the entire living room, but she'd settled her head in the kitchen doorway so she could see us, which made her happy. My mom tossed her a ten-pound family-size tube of ground beef, which disappeared down her gullet. Paul poured lemonade for the rest of us while I explained about our visit to Connecticut.**

"I was half-expecting Paul to have called the mental hospital on them," Annabeth snickered.

**"So it's true." Paul stared at me like he'd never seen me before. He was wearing his white bathrobe, now covered in hellhound fur, and his salt-and-pepper hair was sticking up in every direction.** **"All the talk about monsters, and being a demigod ...it's really true."**

"Well, duh, Pedro." Dionysus said, walking though the doorway - but the trio wasn't with him. The god of wine took a seat on his throne and leaned back, his arms resting on the arm rest.

**I nodded. Last fall I'd explained to Paul who I was. My mom had backed me up. But until this moment, I don't think he really believed us.**

**"Sorry about Mrs. O'Leary," I said, "destroying the living room and all."**

"Sally's used to it by now," Will muttered, but he was loud enough for everyone to hear him - yup, even he had met Mrs. Jackson - beautiful, beautiful Mrs. Jackson-Blofis with her kind blue eyes and soft brown hair... not that Will had a crush on her or anything... psh, that's ridiculous!

Aphrodite winked at him and gave him a knowing smile.

**Paul laughed like he was delighted. "Are you kidding? This is awesome!** **I mean, when I saw the hoof prints on the Prius, I thought maybe. But this!"**

"He took it better than most mortals would!" Demeter exclaimed delighted - too bad he was married.

**He patted Mrs. O'Leary's snout. The living room shook-**_**BOOM, BOOM, BOOM **_**-which either meant a SWAT team was breaking down the door or Mrs. O'Leary was wagging her tail.**

"Imagine if it was the actual SWAT team?" Chris voiced, humor in his voice.

**I couldn't help but smile. Paul was a pretty cool guy, even if he was my English teacher as well as my step dad.**

**"Thanks for not freaking out," I said.**

**"Oh, I'm freaking out," he promised, his eyes wide. "I just think it's awesome!"**

"I approve of this mortal," laughed Athena.

**"Yeah, well," I said, "you may not be so excited when you hear what's happening."**

**I told Paul and my mom about Typhon, and the gods, and the battle that was sure to come. Then I told them Nico's plan.**

"What is this plan?" Poseidon asked irritated - no response.

**My mom laced her fingers around her lemonade glass. She was wearing her old blue flannel bathrobe, and her hair was tied back.**

**Recently she'd started writing a novel, like she'd wanted to do for years, and I could tell she'd been working on it late into the night, because the circles under her eyes were darker than usual.**

"It's good that she's so dedicated, but she needs sleep in order to think properly."

Guess who said this?

**Behind her at the kitchen window, silvery moon lace glowed in the flower box. I'd brought the magical plant back from Calypso's island last summer,** **and it bloomed like crazy under my mother's care. The scent always calmed me down, but it also made me sad because it reminded me of lost friends.**

**My mom took a deep breath, like she was thinking how to tell me no.**

Poseidon frowned; if Sally disapproved, it must've been bad.

**"Percy, it's dangerous," she said. "Even for you."**

**"Mom, I know. I could die. Nico explained that. But if we don't try-"**

**"We'll all die," Nico said.**

"Of course," Clarisse said sarcastically, surprising many.

**He hadn't touched his lemonade. "Ms. Jackson, we don't stand a chance against an invasion. And there **_**will**_** be an invasion."**

**"An invasion of New York?" Paul said. "Is that even possible?** **How could we not see the ...the monsters?"**

Athena smiled dryly, "Mist is a powerful thing."

**He said the word like he still couldn't believe this was real.**

**"I don't know," I admitted. "I don't see how Kronos could just march into Manhattan, but the Mist is strong. Typhon is trampling across the country right now, and mortals think he's a storm system."**

Hera sat up straighter on her throne, "As I've said before, mortals are so ignorant - but it's sometimes a good thing."

**"Ms. Jackson," Nico said, "Percy needs your blessing. The process **_**has **_**to start that way. I wasn't sure until we met Luke's mom, but now I'm positive. This has only been done successfully twice before.**

Poseidon's eyes widened, he figured it out.

**Both times, the mother had to give her blessing. She had to be willing to let her son take the risk."**

**"You want me to bless this?" She shook her head. "It's crazy. Percy, please-"**

Poseidon started to breathe heavily, his green eyes widened in terror - in concern for his son.

**"Mom, I can't do it without you."**

**"And if you survive this ...this **_**process?"**_

Athena caught Poseidon's eye and put a finger on her lips, silently telling him to stay quiet. For once, he agreed.

**"Then I go to war," I said. "Me against Kronos. And only one of us will survive."**

Poseidon calmed down after some thinking; it was obvious his son had survived.

**I didn't tell her the whole prophecy-about the soul reaping and the end of my days. She didn't need to know that I was probably doomed.**

"Nononono," Poseidon muttered, he didn't want Sally to worry any more.

**I could only hope I'd stop Kronos and save the rest of the world before I died.**

**"You're my son," she said miserably. "I can't just..."**

**I could tell I'd have to push her harder if I wanted her to agree, ****but I didn't want to.**

Hera's lips twitched into a small smile, the half-blood was so caring. She was starting to develop a soft spot for him - something that hadn't happened since the original Jason.

**I remembered poor Ms. Castellan in her kitchen, waiting for her son to come home. And I realized how lucky I was. My mom had always been there for me, always tried to make things normal for me, even with the gods and monsters and stuff.**

"She's a good mother," Hera said, wiping a tear away. Hephaestus looked away from the book, he wished Hera was this caring, but she wasn't. She only cared for _perfect _families.

**She put up with me going off on adventures, but now I was asking her blessing to do something that would probably get me killed. ****I locked eyes with Paul, and some kind of understanding passed between us.**

**"Sally." He put his hand over my mother's hands. "I can't claim to know what you and Percy have been going through all these years.**

"So sweet," Aphrodite smiled.

**But it sounds to me... it sounds like Percy is doing something noble. I wish I had that much courage."**

**I got a lump in my throat. I didn't get compliment like that too much. My mom stared at her lemonade. She looked like she was trying not to cry.**

**I thought about what Hestia had said, about how hard it was to yield, and I figured maybe my mom was finding that out.**

Hestia nodded sadly, wiping away a tear - she could only imagine the kind of pain Sally was going through.

**"Percy," she said, "I give you my blessing."**

Poseidon stiffened.

**I didn't feel any different. No magic glow lit the kitchen or anything.**

Athena gave the book a small sincere smile and chuckled - leave it to sea spawn to lighten the mood.

**I glanced at Nico.**

**He looked more anxious than ever, but he nodded.**

**"It's time."**

"Finally, we get to learn about this plan," Demeter said, her eyes were shining, waiting for the answer she had been seeking since the 'plan' had been first mentioned.

**"Percy," my mom said. "One last thing. If you… if you survive this fight with Kronos, send me a sign." She rummaged through her purse and handed me her cell phone.**

The goddesses nodded in approval, but then frowned, it was dangerous for demigods to use cellphones, especially during a time of war.

**"Mom," I said, "you know demigods and phones-"**

**"I know," she said. "But just in case. If you're not able to call… maybe a sign that I could see from anywhere in Manhattan. To let me know you're okay."**

Athena smiled at history repeating itself again, even if it was a minor detail during this war.

**"Like Theseus," Paul suggested. "He was supposed to raise white sails when he came home to Athens."**

**"Except he forgot," Nico muttered. "And his father jumped off the palace roof in despair. But other than that, it was a great idea."**

"Leave it to Nico to be pessimistic," The Stolls choroused together, rolling their eyes.

**"What about a flag or a flare?" my mom said. "From Olympus –the** **Empire State Building."**

Athena smiled again, "Smart woman."

**"Something blue," I said.**

**We'd had a running joke for years about blue food. It was my favorite color, and my mom went out of her way to humor me.** **Every year my birthday cake, my Easter basket, my Christmas candy cane always had to be blue.**

The Greeks (except Leo and Piper) along with Reyna smiled fondly - they knew how much it meant to Percy and Sally.

**"Yes," my mom agreed. "I'll watch for a blue signal. And I'll try to avoid jumping off palace roofs."**

Everyone let out a small laugh at that; Mrs. Jackson was just so funny without meaning to.

**She gave me one last hug. I tried not to feel like I was saying good- bye. I shook hands with Paul. Then Nico and I walked to the kitchen doorway and looked at Mrs. O'Leary.**

**"Sorry, girl," I said. "Shadow travel time again."**

"Poor thing," Aphrodite symphatized.

**She whimpered and crossed her paws over her snout.**

**"Where now?" I asked Nico. "Los Angeles?"**

**"No need," he said. "There's a closer entrance to the Underworld."**

"That's the end of the chapter, lunch break now?" Reyna said, putting down the book and looking at the gods questioningly. The Olympians nodded and got off their thrones, making their way to the throne room entrace/exit, but Zeus bumped into someone, making the person fall to the floor with an 'eep'.

"I see you're back," Zeus grunted, while Hermes stood up from the floor, Nico and Percy behind him wearing creepy smiles.

"And you brought a friend," Poseidon said refering to the person standing next to Percy, sending the person a warm yet weary smile. He knew who this person was.

* * *

A/N: end. READ THE NOTE AT THE TOP. BETA READER NEEDED. PM ME.

Th


	9. Insanity & The Undead

**A/N:** I haven't updated in a hella long while— high school, AP classes, tons of homework, and my computer has a virus, so I haven't been able to update any of my stories. To answer some questions, I'll still be updating here until this gets deleted. This is not a reading chapter. Although, there's a surprise.

In the words of our oh-so-wise Sea God—Brace Yourself.

* * *

...**Insanity & The Undead**...

"May your neighbors respect you, trouble neglect you, angels protect you, and heaven accept you." — Drake

* * *

Hermes flashed his father a nervous smile and avoided looking at his blue eyes — in fear of seeing anger. Percy and Nico smiled softly at Dionysus, who was avoiding everyone's understanding gaze.

"May Castellan," Poseidon said, a smile on his lips. The blonde woman smiled back, she looked younger — in her early thirties — with long blonde hair cascading down her shoulders, warm brown eyes and her skin had a beautiful tan.

"I see you've been cured?" Zeus spoke, his electric blue eyes were soft, an understanding passed between his son and himself. He was happy, May was the only one Hermes had truly loved.

"Yes, My Lord. Thank you, Lord Dionysus." May spoke, her voice was soft and soothing.

The rest of the Olympians and half-bloods were in great shock — Annabeth had tears building up in her eyes.

There was no way this way the same May Castellan that they had met so many years ago. It seemed like a hopeless miracle.

Yet, here she was — no longer with a crazed look in her once dark brown eyes, no longer was her skin sickly pale, or her hair white.

"I see you've... eaten one of my sacred apples..."

Hera stepped closer to the woman and sent her a reassuring smile, telling her with her eyes that she approved of what she had done minutes before. The nervous smile that had inhabited May's lips was gone.

"Thank you, My Lady," Hermes's lover bowed her head in respect.

"W-What?" Annabeth was at loss for words.

Percy smiled and looked at Hermes, who nodded in approval.

"You might want to take a seat."

The Olympians went back to their thrones, and the half- bloods to the couches, making themselves comfortable once again.

Hermes waved his hand, a throne similar to his appeared next to his own, taking May's hand and leading her to it — "A throne for my queen."

Aphrodite was wiping away her tears with a pink cotton tissue, her kaleidoscope eyes twinkling and her fangirl heart speeding up at witnessing such romance — screw Romeo and Juliet, Helen and Paris! — This was true love.

Apollo's irises were shinning with happiness — he hadn't seen his half-brother smile so much in years! He could understand why. If Hermes didn't love May, Apollo certainly would've gone after her.

Hera's flawless face was shaped into one of pure bliss— she would be honored to bond the two together for eternity— this shocked everyone in the Throne Room, since Hera was known for never favoring any mortal.

"Mortals are ignorant!" She would screech when the word 'mortal' was even mentioned.

Annabeth's stormy gray eyes were the size of saucers, they were glistening with fresh tears— she wished that Luke was here to see this miracle. Her head snapped towards the God of Madness and did the unexpected— she hugged him. A bone crushing hug, that the Wine God was sure that if he had been mortal, he wouldn't have lived.

"ThankyouThankyouThankyou~"

The god hid a smile and sent a wink towards the son of Poseidon and the son of Hades.

"It was Jackson's idea, mind you."

It was Percy's turn to be crushed to an almost death by Annabeth— damn her and her fatal hugs.

"C–Can–'t B–Breath–!"

The daughter of Athena unattached her arms from around Percy and looked at him sheepishly, a mischievous grin playing on her lips teasingly— "Thank you" she whispered and backed away, trying to swallow her embarrassment from the scene she had just created— but, can you blame her?

Percy's cheeks were flushed while his cousin was standing behind him, his arms crossed and a snug smile on his face.

"Now," Poseidon rubbed his hands together, looking in between his son, Nico, Dionysus, Hermes, and finally— May, "Tell us how you got past the dragon guarding Hera's sacred tree. Not even an Olympian— except Hera, of course— can get past it, even with teleporting."

Poseidon finished his sentence, a questioning look on his tanned face.

Everyone stared at Percy, waiting for him to start talking.

When Percy noticed this, his smile dropped and he glared at his partner in crime, "Why me?" he whined.

"It was your idea", was Nico's only response as he shrugged. The child of the Sea rolled his eyes and began telling everyone about their mini-quest.

* * *

_"Hermes," Nico whispered from the shadows, Percy standing next to him, holding his wrist so that he would be concealed by the shadows along with his cousin. _

_The Messenger God turned his head, a puzzled expression adorned his face. _

_"Over here!" _

_Hermes caught sight of the two cousins as they stepped away from the dark shadows. _

_"What is it?" _

_"The next chapter... You know what it's about, right?" Worry was clear in Percy's voice. _

_Hermes sighed, closing his eyes— then nodded. _

_"Do you really want to go back in there and read about her?" _

_"No, but at the same time I do. If I can get enough information, I might be able to find a c—" _

_Percy cut the god off, "Nico and I know how." _

_Hermes's eyes were filled with doubt. _

_"Dionysus." _

_The god's name left Nico's lips like an incantation... As if it was obvious. _

_'_Of course',_ Hermes though, slapping himself internally. _

_"Just, take us to May, we can cure her!" _

_"But what about the future?" _

_"It won't change— this past isn't connected to our future. Once we get back to our own time, May will be cured at once. The events of the book will still happen, but once the rest of us are where we belong, the future and the past will clash and everything will be fine." Percy explained, his eyes were hard to read._

_"We've already spoken with the Fates. They approve." _

_Hermes took in Percy and Nico's reasonable explanations and sighed once again, his brain having an internal conflict._

_'_There is nothing to lose_.' A raspy voice whispered in his right ear._

_'_They could be lying._..' Another whispered in his left. _

_Hermes's blue eyes were troubled._

_'_Choose!'

'Choose'

_Janus's voice filled both of his ears. _

_"We only have one hour." Nico informer the troubled god._

_Hermes bit his lip and made his final decision. _

_"Let's go." _

_The two Big Three cousins shared a grin. _

_"To Connecticut!" _

* * *

_A dim golden light appeared next to a Medusa-bean bag in front of a white worn out picket fence. _

_The oldest looked in his early thirties— he stared at the house longingly. Oh, so many memories, that house held. _

_The second oldest had raven black hair, sea green eyes, and wore the clothing of a skater boy— along with a regal purple cape and a black tattoo was visible on his right arm. A trident, the letters SPQR, and a single line underneath it. _

_The youngest of the three had semi-curly black hair, onyx eyes, and in-the-process-of-tanning skin. He wore goth-style clothing. He had a good sense of fashion. His lips formed a straight line— his dark eyes scanned the area. _

_"After you," he nodded at the eldest, gesturing to the house with his head. The older one nodded and started walking. _

_"Deep breath." The blonde murmured to himself, raising his fist and knocking on the white wooden door, making it creak and push open slightly. _

_The three men frowned at this. _

_"Hermes, go on." The green-eyed one ordered quietly. _

_Hermes pushed the door and opened it just wide enough for the three to fit through. Once they were inside, the door shut itself with a groan. _

_"M–May?" Hermes muttered and walked towards the kitchen, which was dimly lit._

_Footsteps echoed from the kitchen— then they stopped. _

_Hermes stood up straighter and matched inside the kitchen only to meet eyes similar to his own— little pieces of the sky. _

_"Luke," the god breathed. The young boy— around the age of fourteen looked up to meet his father's eyes. The boy stared in disbelief._

_"Father," he replied coldly, giving the three men a curt nod then stomped out of the kitchen's back door. _

_The moment Luke touched the handle, a golden glow circled his head. The son of Hermes stopped in mid-step and cocked his head to the side._

_Nico grabbed both of his companion's hands and willed them to be concealed in the shadows. _

_Luke turned his head over his shoulder and stated with unfixed eyes were the three men stood moments before. He shrugged and twisted the door handle, opening the door quietly, pulling his brown bag over his shoulder and a golf stick in his hand along with a sword strapped to his hip._

_It was almost dark outside. Percy caught a glimpse of curly blonde hair and someone's electric blue eyes outside, but then they vanished— Luke had shut the door. _

_Nico released his grip on the two males' hands and released the shadows. _

_"He won't remember seeing me, will he?" Hermes croaked, staring at the shut door— as if contemplating running after his son. _

_Nico shook his head. _

_"Let's just find May and go."_

_The three walked upstairs, the steps creaking. _

_"May?" Hermes called out. _

_Shuffling was heard to the room on their right and the door flew open. White hair filled Hermes's vision and he fell to the ground, May Castellan on top of him, hugging the day lights out of him— tears were running down her face. _

_"I told them you'd come back!" She cried, burying her face in the crook of his neck. _

_The two cousins took a couple of steps back and allowed them to have a moment— they walked back downstairs, heading towards the small hall bathroom. _

_Nico took out a golden drachmas while Percy turned on the faucet and opened his palm, making water swirl on top it it, he turned on the bathroom light and held his palm up, the water moving along with him— he angled it do that the mirror would reflect the light onto the water. _

_Nico threw the drachma as a rainbow formed. _

_"O Iris Goddess of the Rainbow, please, tell Dionysus to come to Connecticut— Castellan residence." Nico mumbled, and Percy closed his palm, the water returning to the sink— he turned off the running water and walked out of the small bathroom, staring out the window into the starry night. _

_"Children," a deep voice spoke behind the two— they immediately turned and smiled nervously. _

_Nico opened his mouth to explain, but the God of Madness held up his hand as a gesture of silence._

_"I know why I'm here." _

_Needless to say, May passed out for five minutes after Dionysus worked his magic on her— draining her head of visions— returning her back to the way she was before. Her white hair became once again blonde and the worry lines on her face disappeared. Color was slowly returning to her skin. _

_"Thank you," whispered Hermes, eyes fixed on his love._

_Dionysus said nothing— he flashed out of the house, returning to Olympus._

* * *

_"...Just go and get the apple from the tree. Simple." Hermes finished his explanation, a passed out May in his arms. _

_Percy took a deep breath and nodded, "Simple", he repeated, trying to calm his nerves and trying to keep his train of thought away from horrible thoughts of his body being used as a gigantic chew toy for a very deadly fire-breathing-not-so-friendly dragon. _

_"Simple," he repeated again, before taking off into a run, heading straight towards the dragon and sliding under the dragon's belly— (the dragon was very shocked)— and coming out from his backside, he could feel his right thigh burning from where he slid. He looked down and saw his jeans tattered and covered in dark blood— along with the concrete floor. _

_His head snapped back up and he focused on a single golden apple hanging from the lowest branch of the beautiful glowing tree. _

_He heard the dragon growl from behind him and he took off into another run, jumping high in the air and snatching the apple from the tree._

_"Nico!" Percy yelled and threw the apple as hard as he could while he lifted his other hand and flicked his wrist, controlling the golden ichor inside the immortal dragon's body, making it stay still— although it was still growling. _

_Nico looked up and jumped up too, catching the apple in his hand with the help of shadows around him._

_"Hermes, take it! We only have two minutes left! If she doesn't eat it by the time the two minutes are up— well, the outcome won't be pretty." Nico gushed as he thrust the golden apple in the god's hands. _

_Percy was standing next to him now, he looked worn out from using his powers in controlling something so big. The dragon had gone quiet but glaring at the son of Poseidon. He couldn't move— he was chained with Stygian Iron chains. _

_"T–That was simple." He panted, shoving a piece of ambrosia that he got from Nico, into his mouth— his wounds healed at once._

_Hermes opened May's mouth carefully and shoved a half of a slice in her mouth, making her jaw move upwards and downwards until it was mush, then he tilted her head back, forcing her to swallow the sacred apple of immortality. _

_She started coughing, her skin started glowing and slowly, her eyes opened— a beautiful and brilliant hazel. _

_"Hermes", She voiced lovingly. _

* * *

"And that kids, is how I met your mother... Just kidding. Anyway, that's what happened," Percy finished his explanation with a grin.

"You got past my dragon that _easily_?" Hera asked, dumbfounded.

Percy nodded, "Only half-bloods can pass the magical borders."

Hera nodded and sniffed, but secretly, she was proud.

Jason shot a glare at Percy— he was jealous.

"Dude! You're awesome!" Leo yelled, with everyone else agreeing. They were too stunned to say anything— sure Percy had done more impressive things, but he came up with the _whole_ thing on his own, _only_ with Nico's help.

Plus, the part about Luke... It was still bugging Hermes.

Nico spoke next, "Can we go eat lunch now?"

"May I join you?" a dark brooding voice was heard from the doorway.

Percy choked on his own spit.

"Y-You!"

"Me," the person smirked.

"But you're supposed to be dead!" Annabeth stuttered, eyes wide.

* * *

A/N: Any guesses on who this mysterious person is? :D

Thanks for reading. 22 days until the Mark of Athena!

Greetings,

—**SadieBreezy**... The Belieber.


	10. Chapter 7

**A/N: **uh, L. Lawliet pretty much wrote over half of this chapter. I pretty much made him my beta, just cause I'm lazy. Yeah, I was like "You're my beta reader!" and he was like "What? Are you kidding me?!"

So... yeah. I haven't read this chapter yet.

...

"Hey, Nico?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna know a high super secret-y secret?"

"Uh, okay?"

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Really, really sure?"

"GODS DAMNIT JUST TELL ME!"

"I... like... lollipops..."

Nico stared, then smirked...

"That's what she said."

"What? Oh Hades no, dude! I was supposed to say that!"

"The tables have turned!"

"Shut up, di Angelo."

"That's not what your mom said last night."

"..."

"..."

"Wanna do the disclaimer?"

"Sure, Perce."

"Sadie Breezy and L. Lawliet do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians nor the Heroes of Olympus."

"So... Who's read the Mark of Athena?"

"Not me!"

"Bitch, did I ask you?"

"Shut your sassy mouth."

"Just kidding!"

"Me too! Actually, I did read the Mark of Athena."

"I haven't."

"Oh... Piper called you unimpressive compared to Jason!"

"What? Oh fuck no!"

[insert Piper screaming bloody murder here]

"Wait, Percy! No killing Piper!"

SADIE- "ALRIGHT. SHUT UP GUYS. On with the story!"

BOTH- "Yes, Goddess of Penguins."

SADIE- "I do like penguins," [insert evil laugh here]

"..."

"..."

SADIE- "Story time, peasants."

* * *

"Well, I'm not."

"Wha–?" Percy stuttered, his eyes wide.

"How did you get here, Ethan?" Annabeth asked quietly.

The son of Nemesis gave her a cheeky smile and gestured towards The Lord of Dead. Hades threw his hands up into the air and gulped.

"I DIDN'T DO IT! Whatever it was!" He screamed.

"Hades."

"Ahem, are we going to read or just stand here looking like fools?" Zeus asked, clearing his throat, annoyance lacing through his commanding voice.

"You already do that by yourselves, Mr. Drag queen." Ethan muttered, but sat down on the only empty seat, next to Nico and Percy.

Zeus opened his mouth but Ethan cut him off.

"I already know what has happened. The Fates have explained everything."

"Well, in that case, who's reading next?"

"If I may, my lord," Jason spoke, raising his hand. Zeus' form flickered to Jupiter for half a second, before turning back and handing the book to his Roman son.

"**My Math Teacher Gives Me A Lift**," Jason read.

"... In my pants..." Travis snickered along with his brother.

The roman looked up, clearly confused, "What?"

Travis gave him a blank look, "What?"

Jason looked taken aback, "What? What did you say?"

"What? I don't know, what did I say?" Travis replied, his face still clear from emotion.

"What?" Jason asked again.

"Exactly," Travis told the blond and laid back, a smirk playing on his lips, watching as Jason scratched the back of his neck and then shook his head.

"Um, okay..." Percy muttered after a few seconds, "Read."

Jason nodded and looked back down at the book, not aware of the amused smiles sent his way.

**We emerged in Central Park just north of the Pond. Mrs. O'Leary looked pretty tired as she limped over to a cluster of boulders.**

"Of course she is! Shadow traveling is very exhausting," Hades said, rolling his eyes at his nephew.

**She started sniffing around, and I was afraid she might mark her territory,**

There were chuckles around the throne room.

**but Nico said, "It's okay. She just smells the way home."**

"That's what she said," Connor whispered in his brother's ear.

"That doesn't even make sense!" Travis whispered back.

"Traitor!"

"What?"

"I don't know..." Connor said, his eyes glazed.

"Um... okaaaay~"

**I frowned. "Through the rocks?"**

**"The Underworld has two major entrances," Nico said. "You know the one in L.A."**

**"Charon's ferry."**

**Nico nodded. "Most souls go that way, but there's a smaller path, harder to find. The Door of Orpheus."**

**"The dude with the harp."**

"Lyre," Annabeth corrected.

**"Dude with the lyre," Nico corrected.**

The throne room filled with laughter. Nico was beet-red and Annabeth tried to glare at all of them. She settled on glaring at Nico, who backed up into Percy. He turned around and their faces hovered an inch apart before separating. Both of them looked like deer's caught in a headlight. Aphrodite squealed.

**"But yeah, him. He used his music to charm the earth and open a new path into the Underworld. He sang his way right into Hades's palace and almost got away with his wife's soul."**

**I remembered the story. Orpheus wasn't supposed to look behind him when he was leading his wife back to the world, but of course he did. It was one of those typical "and-so-they-died/the-end" stories that always made us feel warm and fuzzy.**

"That's the spirit, kid!" Apollo cheered. Artemis plucked her bow threateningly.

**"So this is the Door of Orpheus." I tried to be impressed, but it still looked like a pile of rocks to me.**

Nico just snorted, "Of course."

**"How does it open?"**

**"We need music," Nico said. "How's your singing?"**

"It's actually pretty good," Reyna said, smirking at a red Percy.

"Shut it, Reyna."

"Whatever, Mr. I-Sing-Sappy-Songs-In-The-Shower."

"Wait, you look at him in the shower?" Will asked.

Reyna's mouth flopped open like a goldfish.

"Is that a thing praetors do?" Will asked again.

Reyna's eyes widened. Her face reddened.

"Do they also sleep together?" Will asked once more.

By this time, Annabeth and Jason was steaming. Reyna's eye twitched, and she clutched her heart before dropping. Percy jumped up and pressed his head to her chest.

Travis asked, "What are you doing?"

"Checking for a heartbeat! What does it look like!" Percy snapped.

Travis snickered. "Taking advantage of the situation and being a total pervert."

Apollo slipped off his seat. "Let the master do his work!"

Percy snarled as he got up. "If she tells me you made a move on her…"

Apollo paled. His cousin could really give a glare. "Yes, I won't."

He disappeared in a flash of light.

Percy sat down. Everyone tried to hide the hint of a smile on their face. Finally, Will broke.

"Never knew the praetors were supposed to be so jealous." Will muttered.

Percy snapped and punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.

The throne room was so silent you could here a pin drop. They all inched away from Percy as he twitched. Jason started to read.

**"Um, no. Can't you just, like, tell it to open? You're the son of Hades and all."**

**"It's not so easy. We need music."**

**I was pretty sure if I tried to sing, all I would cause was an avalanche.**

"No, from what Reyna tells us-" Hermes called out.

Percy growled. "You want to end up like your son over there."

Hermes gulped and hid his face. May giggled.

**"I have a better idea." I turned and called, "GROVER!"**

**We waited for a long time. Mrs. O'Leary curled up and took a nap. I could hear the crickets in the woods and an owl hooting. Traffic hummed along Central Park West. Horse hooves clopped down a nearby path, maybe a mounted police patrol. I was sure they'd love to find two kids hanging out in the park at one in the morning.**

"That was probably awkward," Annabeth said, eyeing the two cousins warily.

**"It's no good," Nico said at last.**

**But I had a feeling.**

"What kind of a feeling, Perce, the feeling of danger or when you get your girlfriend really close, you know, all by yourself-"

Connor got cut off by Percy smashing his face in. He was knocked out cold.

**My empathy link was really tingling for the first time in months, which either meant a whole lot of people had suddenly switched on the Nature Channel, or Grover was close.**

"Grover would love that, though," Clarisse said, snorting, while there were many nods of agreement.

**I shut my eyes and concentrated. Grover.**

"I knew you used Grover as inspirat-" Travis was knocked out cold.

**I knew he was somewhere in the park. Why couldn't I sense his emotions? All I got was a faint hum in the base of my skull.**

Hermes kept silent.

**Grover, I thought more insistently.**

Hermes cracked. "Insistently, or intimately?" He asked, then got socked in the face and knocked out cold.

**Hmm-hmmmm, something said.**

"Grover the goat who hmm'd…" Chris said, smiling, who had woken up.

"You Hermes kids don't make sense at all!" Jason declared, his blue eyes filled with confusion.

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it," Percy reassured. **An image came into my head.**

"What kind of image?" Chris asked.

Percy punched Chris all over.

"Hey, watch it! That's right, I feel your hands wandering over-" Chris was knocked out.

**I saw a giant elm tree deep in the woods, well off the main paths.**

"Percy and Grover, under a tree, well off course, K. I. S. S. I. N. G!" Apollo sang, poofing Reyna in. Apollo had a black eye. Percy gladly gave him another one.

**Gnarled roots laced the ground, making a kind of bed.**

"What did you do on that bed?" Aphrodite asked, and Percy gave her the number one finger.

Apollo grunted. "Why do I get punched and she gets an obscene gesture?"

Percy smiled. "I don't hit girls."

**Lying in it with his arms crossed and his eyes closed was a satyr. At first I couldn't be sure it was Grover. He was covered in twigs and leaves, like he'd been sleeping there a long time. The roots seemed to be shaping themselves around him, slowly pulling him into the earth.**

**Grover, I said. Wake up.**

**Unnnh—zzzzz.**

**Dude, you're covered in dirt. Wake up!**

"I don't think that it'll matter to him, nature and all..." Katie said, trailing off.

**Sleepy, his mind murmured.**

Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled, "He loves his sleep."

**FOOD, I suggested. PANCAKES! His eyes shot open.**

A loud round of laughter echoed through Olympus.

"Ah, satyrs," Dionysus said, chuckling, then went back to reading a day old's wine magazine.

**A blur of thoughts filled my head like he was suddenly on fast-forward. The image shattered, and I almost fell over.**

More laughter.

**"What happened?" Nico asked.**

**"I got through. He's . . . yeah. He's on his way."**

"Of course he is. You did mention food..." Will told Percy, both who wore wide amused smiles.

**A minute later, the tree next to us shivered. Grover fell out of the branches, right on his head.**

"Silly satyr," Piper giggled uncharacteristically.

**"Grover!" I yelled.**

**"Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary looked up, probably wondering if we were going to play fetch with the satyr.**

The Stolls gained creepy and mischievous smiles on their faces and rubbed their hands together, then started whispering to each other excitedly.

Many glares were sent their way, but the paid no attention and kept making up diabolical plans concerning a certain satyr...

**"Blah-haa-haa!" Grover bleated.**

**"You okay, man?"**

**"Oh, I'm fine." He rubbed his head. His horns had grown so much they poked an inch above his curly hair.**

**"I was at the other end of the park. The dryads had this great idea of passing me through the trees to get me here. They don't understand height very well."**

Nico smirked evilly along with Percy, while Ethan tried to put as much space in between himself and the two, without falling off the cushioned couch. The kids and Hermes stired.

**He grinned and got to his feet—well, his hooves, actually. Since last summer, Grover had stopped trying to disguise himself as human. He never wore a cap or fake feet anymore. He didn't even wear jeans, since he had furry goat legs from the waist down.**

"Grover!" Aphrodite screeched, "What if a girl sees you?"

"He's not here right now," Hermes told the goddess, an innocent smile on his face, but it left him when May sent him a look.

"I knew that," Aphrodite huffed.

**His T-shirt had a picture from that book Where the Wild Things Are. It was covered with dirt and tree sap.**

Hermes blinked. "How did you score with those nymphs? I keep trying!"

Athena laughed. "So that's where you always were!"

Percy sniggered, before telling them that Grover did not score with the nymphs, he was just passed on.

He failed to hear Travis saying to Connor, "Never knew Grover was a player."

**His goatee looked fuller, almost manly (or goatly?),**

"You're Sirius?" Nico asked his cousin.

It took Percy a moment before it sank in, "Nah, I'm not that old."

Both cousins grinned and gestured for Jason to read again.

**and he was as tall as me now.**

"Bet you didn't like that, Perce!" Connor said. He was knocked out cold.

**"Good to see you, G-man," I said. "You remember Nico."**

**Grover nodded at Nico, then he gave me a big hug. He smelled like fresh-mown lawns.**

**"Perrrrcy!" he bleated. "I missed you! I miss camp. They don't serve very good enchiladas in the wilderness."**

"No, really? I had NO idea! Thanks for the info!" Piper said sarcastically, laughing a little.

She noticed the stares she was getting and immediately shut up.

**"I was worried," I said. "Where've you been the last two months?"**

**"The last two—" Grover's smile faded. "The last two months? What are you talking about?"**

**"We haven't heard from you," I said. "Juniper's worried. We sent Iris-messages, but—"**

The demigods frowned.

**"Hold on." He looked up at the stars like he was trying to calculate his position. "What month is this?"**

**"August."**

**The color drained from his face. "That's impossible. It's June. I just lay down to take a nap and . . ."**

"What?" Athena questioned with raised eyebrows but got no response.

**He grabbed my arms. "I remember now! He knocked me out. Percy, we have to stop him!"**

**"Whoa," I said. "Slow down. Tell me what happened."**

**He took a deep breath. "I was . . . I was walking in the woods up by Harlem Meer. And I felt this tremble in the ground, like something powerful was near."**

**"You can sense stuff like that?" Nico asked.**

**Grover nodded. "Since Pan's death, I can feel when something is wrong in nature. It's like my ears and eyes are sharper when I'm in the Wild. Anyway, I started following the scent. This man in a long black coat was walking through the park, and I noticed he didn't cast a shadow. Middle of a sunny day, and he cast no shadow. He kind of shimmered as he moved."**

The color drained from the Olympians when realization dawned upon them.

**"Like a mirage?" Nico asked.**

**"Yes," Grover said. "And whenever he passed humans—"**

**"The humans would pass out," Nico said. "Curl up and go to sleep."**

"Brain boy, should I call you that?"

"Shut it, Valdez."

**"That's right! Then after he was gone, they'd get up and go about their business like nothing happened."**

**I stared at Nico. "You know this guy in black?"**

**"Afraid so," Nico said. "Grover, what happened?"**

Hades' frown deepened.

**"I followed the guy. He kept looking up at the buildings around the park like he was making estimates or something. This lady jogger ran by, and she curled up on the sidewalk and started snoring.**

**The guy in black put his hand on her forehead like he was checking her temperature. Then he kept walking. By this time, I knew he was a monster or something even worse. I followed him into this grove, to the base of a big elm tree. I was about to summon some dryads to help me capture him when he turned and . . ."**

Athena's eyebrows furrowed together as she put the pieces together.

**Grover swallowed. "Percy, his face. I couldn't make out his face because it kept shifting. Just looking at him made me sleepy. I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'Just having a look around. You should always scout a battlefield before the battle.' I said something really smart like, 'This forest is under my protection. You won't start any battles here!' And he laughed. He said, 'You're lucky I'm saving my energy for the main event, little satyr. I'll just grant you a short nap. Pleasant dreams.' And that's the last thing I remember."**

"Morpheus," Piper whispered, looking at Nico for confirmation, who nodded.

**Nico exhaled. "Grover, you met Morpheus, the God of Dreams. You're lucky you ever woke up."**

**"Two months," Grover moaned. "He put me to sleep for two months!"**

"I was asleep for like, six months. I feel ya, G-Man," Percy said dryly.

**I tried to wrap my mind around what this meant. Now it made sense why we hadn't been able to contact Grover all this time.**

"But what about through his dreams?" Piper asked.

"Morpheus must've blocked all dreams from Grover," Athena responded.

**"Why didn't the nymphs try to wake you?" I asked.**

**Grover shrugged. "Most nymphs aren't good with time. Two months for a tree—that's nothing. Theyprobably didn't think anything was wrong."**

"Of course," Katie said, frowning.

**"We've got to figure out what Morpheus was doing in the park," I said. "I don't like this 'main event' thing he mentioned."**

"We don't like it any more than you, son," Poseidon told Percy, his lips forming a straight line.

"He's working for Kronos," Nico said. "We know that already. A lot of the minor gods are. This just proves there's going to be an invasion. Percy, we have to get on with our plan."

**"Wait," Grover said. "What plan?"**

**We told him, and Grover started tugging at his leg fur.**

**"You're not serious," he said. "Not the Underworld again."**

Annabeth shuddered while Hades looked offended, but didn't say anything after Athena shot him an icy glare.

**"I'm not asking you to come, man," I promised. "I know you just woke up. But we need some music to open the door. Can you do it?"**

**Grover took out his reed pipes. "I guess I could try. I know a few Nirvana tunes that can split rocks. But, Percy, are you sure you want to do this?"**

"What is the satyr talking about?" Hades asked his brother's son, who shook his head and gestured towards the book.

**"Please, man," I said. "It would mean a lot. For old times' sake?"**

**He whimpered. "As I recall, in the old times we almost died a lot. But okay, here goes nothing."**

"Yeah..." Percy mumbled while scratching the back of his neck, "Sorry, G-Man."

**He put his pipes to his lips and played a shrill, lively tune. The boulders trembled. A few more stanzas, and they cracked open, revealing a triangular crevice.**

**I peered inside. Steps led down into the darkness. The air smelled of mildew and death. It brought back bad memories of my trip through the Labyrinth last year, but this tunnel felt even more dangerous.**

Poseidon frowned even more and gave Hades the evil eye.

**It led straight to the land of Hades, and that was almost always a one-way trip.**

Hades tried to ignore his brother's glare.

**I turned to Grover. "Thanks . . . I think."**

**"Perrrrcy, is Kronos really going to invade?"**

**"I wish I could tell you better, but yeah. He will."**

**I thought Grover might chew up his reed pipes in anxiety, but he straightened up and brushed off his T-shirt. I couldn't help thinking how different he looked from fat old Leneus. "I've got to rally the nature spirits, then. Maybe we can help. I'll see if we can find this Morpheus.'"**

"That's my protector, everyone!" Percy yelled and whooped, while standing up and grinned ear to ear.

"Sit down, idiot!" Ethan growled.

"Jeez, killjoy."

**"Better tell Juniper you're okay, too."**

**His eyes widened. "Juniper! Oh, she's going to kill me!" He started to run off, then scrambled back and gave me another hug. "Be careful down there! Come back alive!" Once he was gone, Nico and I roused Mrs. O'Leary from her nap.**

Percy got a wicked grin on his face. He glanced at Reyna who nodded in affirmative. "Hey, Nico, are you sure you didn't want to go with Grover? You know, say you found him and all. Maybe earn a few kisses from Juniper?"

Nico blushed. "It was a one time thing!"

Reyna jumped up. "So you did have a crush on Juniper!"

Jason, pitying Nico, read again.

**When she smelled the tunnel, she got excited and led the way down the steps. It was a pretty tight fit.**

"Or you're just fat," Demeter added casually, examining her nails, "You should eat some cereal, it's delicious, healthy, and it doesn't make you obese."

**I hoped she wouldn't get stuck. I couldn't imagine how much Drano we'd need to un-stick a hellhound wedged halfway down a tunnel to the Underworld.**

"You have the weirdest mind, ever," Nico remarked, snickering.

**"Ready?" Nico asked me. "It'll be fine. Don't worry."**

**He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.**

Nico stopped snickering and looked away from his cousin.

**I glanced up at the stars, wondering if I would ever see them again. Then we plunged into darkness.**

"Dramatic" Apollo whispered loudly in Ares' ear, whom grunted and slapped him back to his throne, causing the Sun God to be knocked out cold.

Nobody made an effort to re-awake him.

**The stairs went on forever—narrow, steep, and slippery. It was completely dark except for the light of my sword. I tried to go slow, but Mrs. O'Leary had other ideas. She bounded ahead, barking happily. The sound echoed through the tunnel like cannon shots, and I figured we would not be catching anybody by surprise once we reached the bottom.**

"... No comment," Chris said, stifling a laugh.

**Nico lagged behind, which I thought was strange.**

Many suspicious glances were sent his way.

**"You okay?" I asked him.**

**"Fine." What was that expression on his face . . . doubt? "Just keep moving," he said.**

Nico frowned and closed his eyes.

**I didn't have much choice. I followed Mrs. O'Leary into the depths. After another hour, I started to hear the roar of a river.**

**We emerged at the base of a cliff, on a plain of black volcanic sand. To our right, the River Styx gushed from the rocks and roared off in a cascade of rapids. To our left, far away in the gloom, fires burned on the ramparts of Erebus, the great black walls of Hades's kingdom.**

**I shuddered. I'd first been here when I was twelve, and only Annabeth and Grover's company had given me the courage to keep going. Nico wasn't going to be quite as helpful with the "courage" thing.**

"Well, thanks for the nice compliments." Nico drawled sarcastically.

**He looked pale and worried himself.**

Percy studied Nico and whispered something in his ear.

The son of Hades nodded and the two cousins stood up and left the room.

After a second, Jason shrugged and began to read again:

**Only Mrs. O'Leary acted happy. She ran along the beach, picked up a random human leg bone, and romped back toward me. She dropped the bone at my feet and waited for me to throw it.**

Aphrodite's nose wrinkled in disgust.

**"Um, maybe later, girl." I stared at the dark waters, trying to get up my nerve. "So, Nico . . . how do we do this?"**

**"We have to go inside the gates first," he said.**

**"But the river's right here."**

**"I have to get something," he said. "It's the only way."**

Annabeth and Reyna stared at the door from where the two boys had left.

**He marched off without waiting.**

**I frowned. Nico hadn't mentioned anything about going inside the gates. But now that we were here, I didn't know what else to do. Reluctantly, I followed him down the beach toward the big black gates.**

Hades' jaw tightened and he sent a wary look towards his brother.

**Lines of the dead stood outside waiting to get in. It must've been a heavy day for funerals, because even the EZ-DEATH line was backed up. "Woof!" Mrs. O'Leary said. Before I could stop her she bounded toward the security checkpoint.**

**Cerberus, the guard dog of Hades, appeared out of the gloom—a three-headed Rottweiler so big he made Mrs. O'Leary look like a toy poodle. Cerberus was half transparent, so he's really hard to see until he's close enough to kill you, but he acted like he didn't care about us. He was too busy saying hello to Mrs. O'Leary.**

**Aphrodite smiled a bit.**

**"Mrs. O'Leary, no!" I shouted at her. "Don't sniff . . . Oh, man."**

"What exactly was she sniffing?" Hermes asked the demigods, who shrugged.

"We weren't there," Annabeth answered.

**Nico smiled. Then he looked at me and his expression turned all serious again, like he'd remembered something unpleasant. "Come on. They won't give us any trouble in the line. You're with me."**

"I wonder..." Reyna whispered to herself, not liking the way things were heading.

**I didn't like it, but we slipped through the security ghouls and into the Fields of Asphodel. I had to whistle for Mrs. O'Leary three times before she left Cerberus alone and ran after us.**

"A puppy crush! Get it?" Aphrodite squealed, while everyone else nodded frantically and covered their ears.

**We hiked over black fields of grass dotted with black poplar trees. If I really died in a few days like the prophecy said, I might end up here forever, but I tried not to think about that.**

"No, don't think about dying," Annabeth repeated, gulping.

**Nico trudged ahead, bringing us closer and closer to the palace of Hades.**

**"Hey," I said, "we're inside the gates already. Where are we—"**

**Mrs. O'Leary growled. A shadow appeared overhead—something dark, cold, and stinking of death. It swooped down and landed in the top of a poplar tree.**

**Unfortunately, I recognized her. She had a shriveled face, a horrible blue knit hat, and a crumpled velvet dress. Leathery bat wings sprang from her back. Her feet had sharp talons, and in her brass-clawed hands she held a flaming whip and a paisley handbag.**

**"Mrs. Dodds," I said.**

"Ugh. Percy told us about her," Will said, his nose twitched in disgust.

**She bared her fangs. "Welcome back, honey."**

"Honey?" Leo questioned.

**Her two sisters—the other Furies—swooped down and settled next to her in the branches of the poplar.**

**"You know Alecto?" Nico asked me.**

**"If you mean the hag in the middle, yeah," I said. "She was my math teacher."**

"Well, shit," Clarisse said, rolling her eyes.

**Nico nodded, like this didn't surprise him. He looked up at the Furies and took a deep breath. "I've done what my father asked. Take us to the palace."**

I tensed. "Wait a second, Nico. What do you—"

Hades and Poseidon tensed while Zeus grinned and sent Hades a thumbs up.

**"I'm afraid this is my new lead, Percy. My father promised me information about my family, but he wants to see you before we try the river. I'm sorry."**

"THAT LITTLE SHI–" Annabeth screeched, standing up and running out the door, the same way her boyfriend and the 'little shi–' had left.

Everyone stared at her retreating running figure.

"Should we go stop her?"

"No," Ares grinned, "Keep reading, kid!"

**"You tricked me?" I was so mad I couldn't think. I lunged at him, but the Furies were fast. Two of them swooped down and plucked me up by the arms. My sword fell out of my hand, and before I knew it, I was dangling sixty feet in the air.**

**"Oh, don't struggle, honey," my old math teacher cackled in my ear. "I'd hate to drop you."**

"Lies," Poseidon muttered bitterly, his Trident threatening to break in half.

**Mrs. O'Leary barked angrily and jumped, trying to reach me, but we were too high.**

**"Tell Mrs. O'Leary to behave," Nico warned. He was hovering near me in the clutches of the third Fury.**

**"I don't want her to get hurt, Percy. My father is waiting. He just wants to talk." I wanted to tell Mrs. O'Leary to attack Nico, but it wouldn't have done any good, and Nico was right about one thing: my dog could get hurt if she tried to pick a fight with the Furies.**

"H-How are they friends then?" Jason asked, tearing his eyes away from the book.

"We... don't know..." Will said, staring at the ceiling.

**I gritted my teeth. "Mrs. O'Leary, down! It's okay, girl."**

**She whimpered and turned in circles, looking up at me. "All right, traitor," I growled at Nico.**

Intense glares were directed towards The Lord of Dead.

**"You've got your prize. Take me to the stupid palace."**

"My palace is not stu-" Hades began, but shut up after Poseidon growled dangerously at him.

**Alecto dropped me like a sack of turnips in the middle of the palace garden.**

**It was beautiful in a creepy way. Skeletal white trees grew from marble basins. Flowerbeds overflowed with golden plants and gemstones. A pair of thrones, one bone and one silver, sat on the balcony with a view of the Fields of Asphodel. It would've been a nice place to spend a Saturday morning except for the sulfurous smell and the cries of tortured souls in the distance.**

Demeter nodded.

**Skeletal warriors guarded the only exit. They wore tattered U.S. Army desert combat fatigues and carried M16s.**

Ares grinned at his uncle but Hades paid him no mind.

**The third Fury deposited Nico next to me. Then all three of them settled on the top of the skeletal throne. I resisted the urge to strangle Nico. They'd only stop me. I'd have to wait for my revenge.**

"YES! REVENGE!" Ares cheered on.

"He sounds like Coach Hedge," Jason muttered in Piper's ear, before going back to the book.

**I stared at the empty thrones, waiting for something to happen. Then the air shimmered. Three figures appeared—Hades and Persephone on their thrones, and an older woman standing between them. They seemed to be in the middle of an argument.**

**"—told you he was a bum!" the older woman said.**

**"Mother!" Persephone replied.**

**"We have visitors!" Hades barked. "Please!"**

**Hades, one of my least favorite gods, smoothed his black robes, which were covered with the terrified faces of the damned. He had pale skin and the intense eyes of a madman.**

**"Percy Jackson," he said with satisfaction. "At last."**

**Queen Persephone studied me curiously. I'd seen her once before in the winter, but now in the summer she looked like a totally different goddess. She had lustrous black hair and warm brown eyes.**

**Her dress shimmered with colors. Flower patterns in the fabric changed and bloomed—roses, tulips, honeysuckle.**

**The woman standing between them was obviously Persephone's mother. She had the same hair and eyes, but looked older and sterner. Her dress was golden, the color of a wheat field. Her hair was woven with dried grasses so it reminded me of a wicker basket. I figured if somebody lit a match next to her, she'd be in serious trouble.**

**"Hmmph," the older woman said. "Demigods. Just what we need."**

**Next to me, Nico knelt. I wished I had my sword so I could cut his stupid head off. Unfortunately, Riptide was still out in the fields somewhere.**

**"Father," Nico said. "I have done as you asked."**

**"Took you long enough," Hades grumbled. "Your sister would've done a better job." Nico lowered his head. If I hadn't been so mad at the little creep, I might've felt sorry for him.**

**I glared up at the god of the dead. "What do you want, Hades?"**

**"To talk, of course." The god twisted his mouth in a cruel smile. "Didn't Nico tell you?"**

**"So this whole quest was a lie. Nico brought me down here to get me killed."**

**"Oh, no," Hades said. "I'm afraid Nico was quite sincere about wanting to help you. The boy is as honest as he is dense. I simply convinced him to take a small detour and bring you here first."**

**"Father," Nico said, "you promised that Percy would not be harmed. You said if I brought him, you would tell me about my past—about my mother."**

**Queen Persephone sighed dramatically. "Can we please not talk about that woman in my presence?"**

**"I'm sorry, my dove," Hades said. "I had to promise the boy something."**

"I warned you, daughter. This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could've married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers, but noooo. You had to eat the pomegranate." Demeter scolded.

Reyna grinned.

"What are you grinning about?" Demeter demanded.

"Percy told me that was your exact words!" Reyna burst into laughter.

Annabeth glared at Reyna. How dare Percy not tell her but tell the spoilt princess!

**The older lady harrumphed. "I warned you, daughter. This scoundrel Hades is no good. You could've married the god of doctors or the god of lawyers, but noooo. You had to eat the pomegranate."**

Hermes and Apollo bust out laughing.

**"Mother—"**

**"And get stuck in the Underworld!"**

**"Mother, please—"**

**"And here it is August, and do you come home like you're supposed to? Do you ever think about your poor lonely mother?"**

**"DEMETER!" Hades shouted. "That is enough. You are a guest in my house."**

**"Oh, a house is it?" she said. "You call this dump a house? Make my daughter live in this dark, damp—"**

**"I told you," Hades said, grinding his teeth, "there's a war in the world above. You and Persephone are better off here with me."**

**"Excuse me," I broke in. "But if you're going to kill me, could you just get on with it?"**

**All three gods looked at me.**

**"Well, this one has an attitude," Demeter observed.**

**"Indeed," Hades agreed. "I'd love to kill him."**

**"Father!" Nico said. "You promised!"**

**"Husband, we talked about this," Persephone chided. "You can't go around incinerating every hero.**

**Besides, he's brave. I like that."**

**Hades rolled his eyes. "You liked that Orpheus fellow too. Look how well that turned out. Let me kill him, just a little bit."**

**"Father, you promised!" Nico said. "You said you only wanted to talk to him. You said if I brought him, you'd explain."**

**Hades glowered, smoothing the folds of his robes. "And so I shall. Your mother—what can I tell you? She was a wonderful woman." He glanced uncomfortably at Persephone. "Forgive me, my dear. I mean for a mortal, of course. Her name was Maria di Angelo. She was from Venice, but her father was a diplomat in Washington, D.C. That's where I met her. When you and your sister were young, it was a bad time to be children of Hades. World War II was brewing. A few of my, ah, other children were leading the losing side. I thought it best to put you two out of harm's way."**

**"That's why you hid us in the Lotus Casino?"**

**Hades shrugged. "You didn't age. You didn't realize time was passing. I waited for the right time to bring you out."**

**"But what happened to our mother? Why don't I remember her?"**

**"Not important," Hades snapped.**

**"What? Of course it's important. And you had other children—why were we the only ones who were sent away? And who was the lawyer who got us out?"**

**Hades grit his teeth. "You would do well to listen more and talk less, boy. As for the lawyer . . ."**

**Hades snapped his fingers. On top of his throne, the Fury Alecto began to change until she was a middle-aged man in a pinstriped suit with a briefcase. She—he—looked strange crouching at Hades's shoulder.**

**"You!" Nico said.**

**The Fury cackled. "I do lawyers and teachers very well!"**

**Nico was trembling. "But why did you free us from the casino?"**

**"You know why," Hades said. "This idiot son of Poseidon cannot be allowed to be the child of the prophecy."**

**I plucked a ruby off the nearest plant and threw it at Hades. It sank harmlessly into his robe. "You should be helping Olympus!" I said. "All the other gods are fighting Typhon, and you're just sitting here—"**

**"Waiting things out," Hades finished. "Yes, that's correct. When's the last time Olympus ever helped me, half-blood? When's the last time a child of mine was ever welcomed as a hero? Bah! Why should I rush out and help them? I'll stay here with my forces intact."**

**"And when Kronos comes after you?"**

**"Let him try. He'll be weakened. And my son here, Nico—" Hades looked at him with distaste. "Well, he's not much now, I'll grant you. It would've been better if Bianca had lived. But give him four more years of training. We can hold out that long, surely. Nico will turn sixteen, as the prophecy says, and then he will make the decision that will save the world. And I will be king of the gods."**

**"You're crazy," I said. "Kronos will crush you, right after he finishes pulverizing Olympus."**

**Hades spread his hands. "Well, you'll get a chance to find out, half-blood. Because you'll be waiting out this war in my dungeons."**

**"No!" Nico said. "Father, that wasn't our agreement. And you haven't told me everything!"**

**"I've told you all you need to know," Hades said. "As for our agreement, I spoke with Jackson. I did not harm him. You got your information. If you had wanted a better deal, you should've made me swear on the Styx. Now, go to your room!" He waved his hand, and Nico vanished. "That boy needs to eat more," Demeter grumbled. "He's too skinny. He needs more cereal."**

**Persephone rolled her eyes. "Mother, enough with the cereal. My lord Hades, are you sure we can't let this little hero go? He's awfully brave."**

**"No, my dear. I've spared his life. That's enough."**

**I was sure she was going to stand up for me. The brave, beautiful Persephone was going to get me out of this.**

"Flattery would get you nowhere in this instance." Hermes sighed.

**She shrugged indifferently. "Fine. What's for breakfast? I'm starving."**

**"Cereal," Demeter said.**

**"Mother!" The two women disappeared in a swirl of flowers and wheat.**

**"Don't feel too bad, Percy Jackson," Hades said. "My ghosts keep me well informed of Kronos's plans. I can assure you that you had no chance to stop him in time. By tonight, it will be too late for your precious Mount Olympus. The trap will be sprung."**

**"What trap?" I demanded. "If you know about it, do something! At least let me tell the other gods!"**

**Hades smiled. "You are spirited. I'll give you credit for that. Have fun in my dungeon. We'll check on you again in—oh, fifty or sixty years."**

Two bright flashes filled the room, but Poseidon didn't care. He was too busy beating Hades black and blue. Hades spluttered out a few inaudible words. Poseidon started gutting Hades with his trident. Hades's guts spilled out onto the floor. The goddess' 'ewwwwwed'

"Eww! Why is that funny man poking that weird oily man with a pointy stick?" A little voice came from the middle of the throne room.

Everyone turned towards the middle of the throne room. Hades gathered up his guts and healed his stomach. A small five-year-old version of Percy and another teenaged Percy were standing in the room.

Percy and Nico entered in.

"Who are you?" Zeus rumbled.** (No pun intended.)**

"I'm Percy!" Percy bounced up and down.

Suddenly his stomach rumbled. "I'm hungry."

Reyna grabbed his hand. "Remember me? I'm Reyna."

"Reyna? You look bigger." Percy stared up at her.

Reyna brought him to the kitchen.

The gods stared at the forms of the retreating people. That was interesting.

Sighing, Annabeth picked up the book to read. She couldn't. The book was blank.

"We may have to wait for them." She gestured at the open doors.

Apollo and Hermes ran out, followed by all the boys in the room. A faint cry of 'food!' could be heard.

The rest soon followed.

* * *

**Ok, loyal fans of L. Lawliet-Rue Ryuzaki. It's me, Ryuzaki! Remember me. I helped her with some ideas (Doctor who) and added some humor. Right now... Sadie's eating candy. I added the five year old Percy. And the corrupted jokes.**

**I HATE ALL YOU FLAMERS (NOT REALLY, BUT STILL...) I MEAN LIKE (You know what, never mind.. I did mess up this story... Oh, and for the people who say I'm delaying the story, it's not true. Sadie considers this a side story. Anyways.. I'm on another sugar high.)**

**P.S. she sucks at Halo 3. **

**Sadie: fuck you, L. **


	11. Chapter 8

Hey... I am back. Yeah, I was thinking... It isn't fair that just because of a guest, I'll stop writing for you guys. I consider this a side story, but I'm attached to it... Cause it was my first story on here. I got some really sweet PMs and reviews... And I'm sorry to the people who wanted to adopt this... Well... This is only HALF the chapter, since I've been busy studying. I have final exams next week. Afterwards, I have break and I will not be writing at all until January.

Lets make a deal. If you guys can get my story, PIECES OF TIME, to 300 reviews, I'll post 5 chapters 5 days in a row when I get back... And get this story to what? 600 reviews? Yeah. Merry Christmas. And if the world does end.. SEE YA IN HELL.

* * *

Fifteen minutes soon after, every person walked inside once again and sat down.

"Alright, after this chapter, we should rest." Zeus informed everyone and picked up the book, flipping it to chapter eight.

"**I Take the Worst Bath Ever"**, Zeus read gradually and did a double take.

"So… you don't like to stay squeaky clean?" Travis asked – he had woken up and he had a purple bruise on his face, underneath his left eye.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Lord Zeus, please continue reading."

Zeus wanted to protest and yell that he took orders from no one, but he caught Poseidon's glare from the corner of his eye.

**My sword reappeared in my pocket.**

Percy glared at the floor and huffed while Nico sent him an apologetic look.  
**Yeah, great timing.**

"Ah, sarcasm." Hermes said frivolously, trying to break the tension in the room – Poseidon was still _very _irritated with his brother.

**Now I could attack the walls all I wanted.**

Reyna glared at Nico and reached for her dagger, but it was no longer there – one glance at the Lord of the Dead, and she understood. She sighed in defeat silently and continued to glare at Nico with an angry inferno in her eyes.

**My cell had no bars, no windows, not even a door.**

Demeter looked absolutely disgusted.

"No sunlight!" she exclaimed crossly, "How are the crops going to cultivate?" she demanded.  
Hades rolled his eyes and shot her an infuriated glare, "It's the _Underworld_, sister, in case you have forgotten."

Zeus began to read before a dispute could break out.

**The skeletal guards shoved me straight through a wall, and it became solid behind me. I wasn't sure if the room was airtight.**

Poseidon growled dangerously while Percy stared at the floor. Nico shuffled next to him in his seat. The son of Poseidon frowned and scooted closer to the Ghost Prince.

"Hey, don't worry 'bout it; you had a perfectly good reason", he whispered in his cousin's ear soothingly and gave him a care-free grin. Nico smiled back and nodded.

**Probably. Hades' dungeon was meant for dead people and they don't breathe.**

Athena rolled her eyes – "Thank you for stating the palpable", she mumbled but shut her mouth when she caught her own daughter glaring at her.

**So forget fifty or sixty years. I'd be dead in fifty or sixty minutes.**

_"Don't be so cynical",_ Apollo thought frowning.

**Meanwhile, if Hades wasn't lying, some big trap was going to be sprung in New York by the end of the day, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.**

Poseidon sent a warning glower at his brother's son.

**I sat on the cold stone floor, feeling miserable.**

Nico frowned, "I'm sorry", he mumbled. Even though his cousin had already forgiven him, the son of Hades still felt culpable – he had been so selfish.

"Don't sweat it, bro." Percy whispered.

**I don't remember dozing off. Then again, it must've been about seven in the morning, mortal time, and I'd been through a lot.**

Jason gave Percy a look filled with empathy, but the older half-blood disregarded it. He didn't want commiseration – it didn't make him feel good when people felt 'sympathetic' towards him.  
Jason looked down at his shoes – he understood why Percy had ignored his look. He, as a Roman, didn't like pity, either. It was futile and fixed nothing.

Piper grasped his hand beside him and gave him a calming smile – he returned it. Then, he saw how she stared past him, her eyes crammed with yearning and melancholy. He twisted his head and watched how Leo fiddled with his iPhone in his hands, listening to the music of the future.  
Jason glared at his feet once again, as if they had just shoved themselves up his –

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his father's booming voice as he continued to read. He only caught the word 'water' of the next sentence and he sighed and obscured his face in his hands and closed his eyes.

**I dreamed I was on the porch of Rachel's beach house in St. Thomas.** **The sun was rising over the Caribbean. Dozens of wooded islands dotted the sea, and white sails cut across the water.**

Annabeth frowned – she had a feeling that Rachel had begged her parents to pick that place because of Percy's association to the sea. She wasn't too content about that.

**The smell of salt air made me wonder if I would ever see the ocean again. Rachel's parents sat at the patio table while a personal chef fixed them omelets. Mr. Dare was dressed in a white linen suit.** **He was reading _The Wall Street Journal. _The lady across the table was probably Mrs. Dare, though all I could see of her were hot pink fingernails and the cover of _Condé Nast Traveler._** **Why she'd be reading about vacations while she was on vacation, I wasn't sure.**

"She's doubtlessly scheduling their next vacation." Percy mumbled darkly – he wasn't so pleased at how Rachel's parents forced her to go everywhere when she didn't even want to.

**Rachel stood at the porch railing and sighed. She wore Bermuda shorts and her Van-Gogh T-shirt.** **(Yeah, Rachel was trying to teach me about art, but don't get too impressed. I only remembered the dude's name because he cut his ear off.)**

"Yeah!" Ares nodded in approval and then turned to Apollo. "One of your only sons that I approve of."  
Apollo rolled his eyes and mumbled something about not needing anybody's sanction.

**I wondered if she was thinking about me, and how much it sucked that I wasn't with them on vacation.**

**I know that's what _I _was thinking.**

Percy smiled sheepishly at the looks that were sent his way. "Hey, give me a break! I was trapped in the Underworld!"

Poseidon glared harder at his brother. "The Caribbean is a great place for vacation, isn't it, Hades?" he questioned through gritted teeth. Hades flinched and nodded apathetically.

**Then the scene changed. I was in St. Louis, standing downtown under the Arch. I'd been there before.** **In fact, I'd almost fallen to my death there before.**

Annabeth winced remembering their primary quest. Percy smiled at her from across from where she was sitting and she took that as a good sign.

The two hadn't gotten to spend any time together and he hadn't been showing any signs of affection towards her – she was taking whatever she could get.  
She was also very aware that she sounded _very_desperate.

**Over the city, a thunderstorm boiled – a wall of absolute black with lightning streaking across the sky. A few blocks away, a swarm of emergency vehicles gathered with their lights flashing.** **A column of dust rose from a mound of rubble, which I realized was a collapsed skyscraper.**

Athena frowned in censure and pursed her lips. It was easy for others to demolish rather than build. The skyscraper had most likely been built by one of her children – just as most of the most famed and some un-famous buildings in the world had.

**A nearby reporter was yelling into her microphone: "Officials are describing this as a structural failure, Dan, though no one seems to know if it is related to the storm conditions."**

Artemis scoffed loudly. "Mortals are so ignorant."

**Wind whipped her hair. The temperature was dropping rapidly, like ten degrees just since I'd been standing there.**

Hades shrugged without heed. He was used to the bitter weather, since the Underworld wasn't the warmest place ever.

**"Thankfully, the building had been abandoned for demolition," **

"Oh, that's convenient!" Leo exclaimed with a small smile on his lips. He wanted to break the tension and see something out of the situation, so far, it wasn't so good.

Percy nodded along, sensing Leo's plan and grinned crookedly at the tinkerer. "Yeah! Less deaths to worry about!"

"Yeah, 'cause death is _so _not cool!" Leo responded and got up from his seat beside Jason and plopped down next to Percy, who gave him a warm smile.

Nico huffed in false infuriation and mock-glared at the two, "Death is splendid, thank you."  
Percy and Leo rolled their eyes in synch. "Right… whatever you say son of _Hades." _

Leo smirked, "Oooooh!"

Everyone else watched the exchange in hilarity, with the exception of Jason and Piper. Jason was sending Leo a fiery glare packed with covetousness. Why did _he _get to be buddy-buddy with Percy _Jackson _and he, the son of the _King of the Gods, _didn't?

Piper, on the other hand, was staring at Leo dejectedly. He was so far away from her now. She had to apologize to him soon enough… as soon as she managed to swallow her pride.

Zeus cleared his throat and began reading again:

**She said.** **"But police have evacuated all nearby buildings for fear the collapse might trigger-"**

**She faltered as a mighty groan cut through the sky. A blast of lightning hit the center of the darkness. The entire city shook.**

"If this wasn't _the _war, I'd say that father had diarrhea or something." Hermes joked.  
"Why's that, dear brother of mine?" Apollo questioned ingenuously, although he was trying hard to fight back a laugh at his father's perplexed expression.

_"A mighty groan cut through the sky",_Hermes quoted, "Sounds like father after he eats Demeter's muesli."

Demeter gasped at the offense and her face turned red, then she aimed a look filled with umbrage at Zeus. Said god gulped and shook his head in dissent, "Not true!"

"Just. Read." Demeter commanded cold-heartedly.

**The air glowed, and every hair on my body stood up. The blast was so powerful I knew it could only be one thing: Zeus's master bolt.**

"Looks like it _is _father after all. When he can't liberate his, ahem, _processed food_ from his, uh, rear, he gets livid and –" Hermes was cut off by May who gave him a beseeching look and her eyes darted back to Zeus, who was staring crossly at his son.

"Please, go on." Hermes gulped.

**It should have vaporized its target, but the dark cloud only staggered backward.**  
**A smoky fist appeared out of the clouds. It smashed another tower, and the whole thing collapsed like children's blocks.**

**The reporter screamed. People ran through the streets.**

"Sometimes, mortals are too ignorant for their own good…" Athena trailed off.

**Emergency lights flashed. I saw a streak of silver in the sky-a chariot pulled by reindeer, but it wasn't Santa Claus driving.**

Artemis looked snubbed, but she settled for glaring at Percy.

**It was Artemis, riding the storm, shooting shafts of moonlight into the darkness. A fiery golden comet crossed her path... maybe her brother Apollo.**

Apollo smirked and took out his chariot keys from his pockets and played with the golden keys, and fiddled with the lock remote, pressing the red push button over and over again, knowing that outside of the Throne Room, his chariot's horn was blaring obnoxiously.

**One thing was clear: Typhon had made it to the Mississippi River. He was halfway across the U.S., leaving destruction in his wake, and the gods were barely slowing him down.**  
**The mountain of darkness loomed above me. A foot the size of Yankee Stadium was about to smash me when a voice hissed,**  
**_"Percy!"_**

Nico smiled when he felt Percy put a consoling arm around him in a brotherly manner. He looked back up to the Olympians, as Zeus continued reading, but then lowered his head when he met Poseidon's irate glare.

**I lunged out blindly.**

**Before I was fully awake, I had Nico pinned to the floor of the cell with the edge of my sword at his throat.**

The War God grinned and sat up straight on his throne, awaiting a fight to break out. Reyna smirked as she eyed the book on tenterhooks. She hoped that Percy would acquire retribution… and now she sounded just like a Nemesis child.

**"Want… to… rescue," he choked.**

"Don't believe him!" Reyna mumbled under her breath and didn't become aware of the glare that Annabeth shot her way.

**Anger woke me up fast. "Oh, yeah? And why should I trust you?"**  
**"No… choice?" he gagged.**

Reyna grumbled at logic and crossed her arms. Nico noticed and burned holes on her head angrily. Jason sat up and watched Nico's every move… if he made one wrong move on Reyna, he would pay with blood. Piper frowned at Jason's over protectiveness over the Roman praetor.

**I wished he hadn't said something logical like that.**

"Me neither."

"Excuse me; do you have something you want to say, Reyna?" Annabeth intermittent vociferously and dangerously as she stood up and grabbed her dagger from her hip. Reyna's eyes narrowed as she stood up as well and found her own weapon at her side.

"I'm defending your boyfriend!" Reyna affirmed through gritted teeth.

"I think that I can defend my own boyfriend, thank you."

"Ladies, please…" Percy said as he stood up and walked in between the two warriors. "No need to fight. I appreciate that you're defending me, Reyna, but this is in the _past_." Percy told his fellow Praetor, putting a prominence on 'past'. A flash of hurt swam through her dark eyes before it turned stony and cold and she gave him a stiff nod.

He turned to Annabeth. "Please, don't start arguments over nothing, Wise Girl." He said gently, as he stroked her cheek frivolously and pecked her forehead. A smile broke out on her lips and she nodded.  
Percy gestured for both females to take a seat, and they did. He went back to his own spot and high-fived Nico and Leo, who congratulated him for soothing down the two most brutal female warriors.

* * *

I realize that wasn't even half the chapter, but I'm at school right now... Be happy. At least you know I won't stop this, right?


	12. Chapter 8 Part 2

The rest of the previous chapter. Sorry for the long wait!

**I let him go.  
**  
**Nico curled into a ball and made retching sounds while his throat recovered.**  
**Finally he got to his feet, eyeing my sword warily.  
His own blade was sheathed. I suppose if he'd wanted to kill me, he could've done it while I slept.**

Nico nodded in confirmation while his cousin rolled his eyes.

**Still, I didn't trust him.**

Will eyed Nico circumspectly, and then turned away and began whispering with the Stolls and Chris.

**"We have to get out of here," he said.  
"Why?" I said. "Does your dad want to **_**talk **_**to me again?"  
**  
Poseidon sent his brother a stiff smile that made him squirm in apprehension.

**He winced. "Percy, I swear on the River Styx, I didn't know what he was planning."**  
**"You know what your dad is like!"  
**  
"He's unfeeling!" Demeter grumbled.

**"He tricked me. He promised-" Nico held up his hands.** **"Look… right now, we need to leave. I put the guards to sleep, but it won't last."**  
**I wanted to strangle him again.  
**  
Clarisse looked up and smirked, "That can be prearranged."

Katie, who was sitting beside her, shook her head, "Aggression won't resolve the variance."

Athena blinked. "This is coming from a demigod."

Katie blushed in discomfiture and stared at her fiddling thumbs.

**Unfortunately, he was right. We didn't have time to argue, and I couldn't escape on my own. He pointed at the wall. A whole section vanished, revealing a corridor.**  
**"Come on." Nico led the way.**  
**I wished I had Annabeth's invisibility hat,** **but as it turned out, I didn't need it. Every time we came to a skeleton guard, Nico just pointed at it, and its glowing eyes dimmed.  
**  
"That's cool." Leo told the son of the Death God, who smiled smugly.

**Unfortunately, the more Nico did it, the more tired he seemed.  
**  
Here, his smug smile dropped.

**We walked through a maze of corridors filled with guards. By the time we reached a kitchen staffed by skeletal cooks and servants, I was practically carrying Nico.** **He managed to put all the dead to sleep but nearly passed out himself.  
**  
"That sucks… a lot." Piper said, speaking up after a long time. Several heads turned to look at her, but she felt as if she had been punched in the stomach when Leo, Nico, and Percy stared at her with cold eyes. She blinked rapidly and looked away from the trio of new friends.

**I dragged him out of the servants' entrance and into the Fields of Asphodel.**  
**I almost felt relieved until I heard the sound of bronze gongs high in the castle.**

Poseidon glared harder at Hades, who struggled to not flinch under the intense glare filled with hatred for him.

**"Alarms," Nico murmured sleepily.  
**  
**"What do we do?"  
**  
**He yawned then frowned like he was trying to remember. "How about… run?"  
**  
"You didn't have enough energy to run, so I have no clue why you suggested it." Percy said with a shrug at the end. Nico shrugged too. "I don't know. I wasn't thinking clearly."

**Running with a drowsy child of Hades was more like doing a three-legged race with a life-size rag doll.**

"Have experience with that, Perseus?" Athena asked in an amused tenor.

A look of shock appeared in his face from being addressed in a _nice _manner from _Athena. _The look vanished and he gave her a small and unsure smile while shaking his head. "It was just a figure of speech, My Lady."

**I lugged him along, holding my sword in front of me. The spirits of the dead made way like the Celestial bronze was a blazing fire.  
**  
**The sound of gongs rolled across the fields. Ahead loomed the walls of Erebos, but the longer we walked, the farther away they seemed.  
**  
Hades grinned. "That's what it's supposed to do, nephew."

Percy gulped and nodded; he wasn't comfortable with talking to the god who almost trapped him in the Underworld forever.

**I was about to collapse from exhaustion when I heard a familiar **_**"WOOOOOF!"  
**_  
"Let me guess," said Will, placing his pointer finger on his chin and tapping it lightly in a thoughtful manner. "Hm… who could it be?"

"I don't know!" Travis said, shrugging with exaggeration, then turned to his brother. "Do you know, Connor?"

Connor shook his head rapidly and furrowed his eyebrows. "I have _nooooooo _clue, brother."  
Will, Travis, and the Stolls turned to Chris who put his hands to his sides and wore a fake confused expression on his face. Then, they turned to Percy.

"Kindly tell us, Perseus, of who was the one who woof-ed so familiarly?"

Percy face palmed while the Stolls, Chris and Will sniggered.

**Mrs. O'Leary bounded out of nowhere and ran circles around us, ready to play.  
|**  
Leo wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "Play _what_?" He even added a wink at the end (which looked like an awkward eye twitch).

Nico went along with this. "Well, _you know._"

"Oh my gods, what is wrong with you people?"

Nico and Leo turned to Percy with their eyebrows raised and a frown on their lips. Nico spoke first: "Why do you say 'oh _my _gods' and not 'oh _our _gods'?"

Leo nodded in agreement. "You selfish prick!"

Percy mouth fell open as the rest of the demigods and Olympians struggled to contain their laughter.

"Oh?" Connor said and squeezed next to Percy on the couch, pushing off a grumbling Nico to the side (half his butt was hanging off). "You want me to put my _you know what _in your mouth, Perseus?"

Percy's face went blank. He fainted.

"…."

Clarisse sniggered.

"…."

"…. I did nothing," Connor said and hurriedly sat back down next to his brother, whistling in innocence.  
"O-oookay, then." The god of the sky said, lost for words and began to read again as everyone stared at Percy's passed out body.

**"Good girl.'" I said. "Can you give us a ride to the Styx?"  
**  
Travis was going to open his mouth to make another _special _(cough) comment, but Katie slapped the back of his head and hissed at him to shut his big mouth. Travis wisely obeyed.

Annabeth and Reyna stared at Percy worriedly and they both glared at the boys heatedly. Will, Chris, Leo, Nico, and the Stolls gulped and turned away from the two girls.

**The word **_**Styx**_** got her excited. She probably thought I meant **_**sticks.  
**_  
Will threw his hands in the air and groaned dramatically. "Currently wondering why I have such a dirty mind."

"You need a mind filter, then." Katie teased playfully.

"Why?" the son of Apollo whined.

"Because." Demeter's daughter left it at that.

**She jumped a few times, chased her tail just to teach it who was boss, and then calmed down enough for me to push Nico onto her back.  
**  
"Just to teach it who was boss. Oh my gods." Annabeth said, giggling uncharacteristically.  
Leo and Nico cleared their throats, which made Annabeth roll her eyes. "Oh _our _gods", she corrected herself with a sarcastic tone.

Both boys nodded in approval, ignoring the sarcasm. "Good," Nico said. "Sharing is caring."

"I know this," Annabeth stated dryly. "I went to kindergarten."  
**I climbed aboard, and she raced toward the gates. She leaped straight over the EZ-DEATH line, sending guards sprawling and causing more alarms to blare.  
**  
**Cerberus barked, but he sounded more excited than angry, like: **_**Can I play too?  
**_  
Annabeth smiled as she remembered the three-headed dog.

**Fortunately, he didn't follow us, and Mrs. O'Leary kept running.  
**  
**She didn't stop until we were far upriver and the fires of Erebos had disappeared in the murk.  
**  
"Who is Erebos?" Travis asked uncomprehendingly.

Athena took a deep breath and began: "Erebos, E-R-E-B-O-S or E-R-E-B-U-S is the Protogenos or primeval god of darkness, consort of Nyx, the goddess of Night, whose dark mists enveloped the edges of the world, and filled the deep hollows of the earth. His wife Nyx drew these mists across the heavens to bring night to the world, while his daughter, Hemera, H-E-M-E-R-A, scattered them bringing day: one blocking out the light of Aither, shining, blue heaven, and the other revealing it. The bright upper air was regarded as the source of day in the ancient cosmogonies rather than the sun. The name Erebos was also used for the dismal, netherworld realm of Hades. H-A-D-"

"I'm sure they know how to spell my name, Athena." Hades interrupted irritated as he clutched the side of his head and then rubbed his temples and let out an exasperated sigh. "Continue reading brother. I do not need to be here listening to Athena's pointless lectures about ourselves."

Athena huffed indignantly and glared at the Lord of the Dead. He ignored her, unaffected by her glare. Zeus nodded; he too, didn't need a lecture that went on for millennia. He began reading again.

**Nico slid off Mrs. O'Leary's back and crumpled in a heap on the black sand.  
**  
"Black sand? Interesting, brother." Poseidon said, nodding in approval. Hades smirked at Zeus and leaned back against his throne with a smug expression on his pale face.

**I took out a square of ambrosia – part of the emergency god-food** **I always kept with me. It was a little bashed up, but Nico chewed it.  
**  
**"Uh," he mumbled. "Better."**

"Thanks by the way," Nico whispered to a still unconscious Percy. He nudged the older demigod's arm with his foot and smirked evilly when the son of the Sea God didn't wake up. Oh, so many ideas. **  
**  
**"Your powers drain you too much," I noted.  
**  
"Well, yeah. There's always a downside to everything." Nico said in a matter-of-fact voice.

**He nodded sleepily. "With great power… comes great need to take a nap.** **Wake me up later."  
**  
"… You just _had _to mess up a perfectly good quote, didn't you?" Annabeth stated, rolling her eyes. Nico ignored her which made the blond frown. What did she do?

**"Whoa, zombie dude."  
**  
The Son of Hades grinned and put his arms in front of him and began to chant "brains, brains. I'm so hungry, I wonder how you taste."

Leo stared at the boy sitting next to him bizarrely. "You remind me of the Wire."

"The Wire?" Jason asked, speaking up for the first time in a while. Leo nodded and turned to the son of Jupiter.

"The Wire was an alien criminal that menaced the population of England in 1953 for a few days before and during the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II." Leo recited perfectly as if he had read it straight from a text.

Athena raised an eyebrow and her gray eyes shone when she caught on. She nodded and addressed the fire bender. "One of my favorites," she told him.

Annabeth and Leo smirked to each other and then looked back at the goddess of Wisdom. "Lady Athena, would you like to join your daughter and me tonight for a marathon?"

"Which ones?"

"Nine through Eleven", responded her daughter.

Athena nodded enthusiastically. "Nine is my favorite."

Leo smiled. "I'm still debating with myself between Nine and Ten. I mean, Ten is definitely handsome, not that I swing that other way, but I mean, it's a _fact. _Yet, Nine is dark and more mysterious, but Ten is lively, rude, rude, and still not ginger."

Annabeth grinned. "Definitely Eleven."

"Oh my gods, remember in the Christmas invasion that one scene when Ten was mocking the monster?" Leo asked laughing hysterically.

"I demand to know who you are!" Annabeth began quoting in a loud and deep voice.

Leo stopped laughing for a minute to be able to speak. He quoted, too, imitating Annabeth's voice but in a British accent." I don't know! See, there's the thing. I'm the Doctor, but beyond that, I - I just don't know. I literally do not know who I am. It's all untested. Am I funny? Am I sarcastic? _Sexy_?" Here, he winked at Athena. "Am I an old misery? Life and soul? Right-handed? Left-handed? A gambler? A fighter? A coward? A traitor, a liar, a nervous wreck? I mean, judging by the evidence, I've certainly got a gob."

Athena, Annabeth, and Leo fell into fits of giggles and then struggled to calm themselves.

Will whistled lowly and whispered in Chris' ear. "Who knew that Leo had something in common with the brainiacs?"

The son of Hermes shrugged.

"Afterwards, if we have time, we can also have a marathon of Torchwood?" Leo asked as he clutched his stomach. Everyone else stared at the three with wide eyes and slowly scooted themselves away from the three.

Athena and Annabeth nodded eagerly in synch, not paying any mind to anyone else. "Maybe Sherlock, too?"

"Let's not forget Supernatural, Dexter, and Merlin." Annabeth added.

"It's a plan then", Athena declared. She hadn't been this excited since… she won over Athens. That was saying something.

"Alright, father. Keep reading."

Zeus nodded and began reading again quickly. He was disturbed.

**I caught him before he could pass out again.** **"We're at the river. You need to tell me what to do."  
**  
"River!" Leo yelled. "Get it?" He asked, turning to Athena and Annabeth; the two nodded but before they could speak, Zeus glared at them and began reading again but with an aggressive tone.

**I fed him the last of my ambrosia, which was a little dangerous. The stuff can heal demigods, but it can also burn us to ashes if we eat too much.**

"Yeah," Hermes said angrily. "I remember. My son was fed too much of it and he turned to ashes in a split second."

May patted his shoulder in comfort and he smiled slightly at her.

**Fortunately, it seemed to do the trick. Nico shook his head a few times and struggled to his feet.**

"Hey, I just realized," Katie said. "Where's little Percy?"

Everyone else looked around in confusion. "I don't know…" Poseidon said worriedly.

Zeus rolled his eyes. "He's taking a nap. The nymphs in Hestia's palace took care of him."

Hestia grinned when she was mentioned and nodded in confirmation.

**"My father will be coming soon," he said. "We should hurry."**

"I can't believe your own son is scared of you. You're such an awful father!" Demeter screeched.

**The River Styx's current swirled with strange objects-broken toys, ripped-up college diplomas, wilted homecoming corsages-all the dreams people had thrown away as they'd passed from life into death.**

Athena frowned at the part about the college diplomas. "Mortals give up too easily."

"Then why do you mate with them?" Will asked sharply, his mind wandering to Sally Jackson.

Athena looked offended. "Excuse me?"

Will glared at the goddess. His father and his siblings weren't fond of the Wisdom Goddess. "You talk about mortals like they're the most disgusting human beings. If they are, then why do you intercat with them? You need to admit it, you all need mortals, because without them, you would have nothing to rule over. Nobody to have a casual fling with. Also, have you forgotten, _Lady _Athena, that us demigods are mortals too, because we can die?"

Athena glared at the son of Apollo and turned to the Sun God. "Apollo, control your offspring."

Apollo's lip curled in disgust. "You don't tell me what to do, Minerva", he said the last time mischeviously, yet there was hatred behind his words.

Athena's form flickered and a less formal version of her appeared. She glared fiercely at the sun god and tried to change back, but she couldn't. She turned to Jason and Reyna. "I am Athena, not Miverva, you filthy Romans!"

They nodded and gulped, but she still could not change. "Minerva, do not dare to talk to my son that way!"

Miverva's glare became more intense and she stormed out of the Throne Room, muttering a string of curses in Latin and something about 'avenging' and 'following' a 'mark'.

The Throne Room was quiet until Apollo started clapping. "Yeah! Good job son!" He cheered, congratulating Will. Artemis glared at her brother and stormed out of the Throne Room after Minerva.

Apollo's tanned face had a look of fake-hurt. "Taking sides with the enemy, my own twin does. I'm not surprised, really." He shrugged carelessly and leaned back against his throne and shot a smirk at Annabeth.

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that it's rude to glare at a god, Athena filth?"

"Didn't anyone ever tell you that you shouldn't mess with the Goddess of Wisdom?"

"Nope," Apollo said. "See? This is why I prefer the Romans, mostly. They actually put Athena in her place. Where she belongs, below me", he said laughing lightly. "If you don't stop glaring I'll make sure that you lose sight with those pretty gray eyes of yours, Athena spawn."

Annabeth didn't stop glaring, but it did lessen. "If she's below you, then why does Lord Zeus trust her the most?" Annabeth challenged.

"My father doesn't forget that I am capable of lying, just like anyone else. I am the God of Truths, yet they know that I can lead them in the wrong direction with my sight and my little white lies." He smirked as if proud of his actions. "Very wise of you, father," he told the King of the Gods, who had an impassive expression.

"Can I read now?" Zeus asked sacastically. Apollo nodded and sent the daughter of Athena one last arrogant smirk before he waved his hand and she disappeared from the Throne Room.

Leo frowned. 'Guess no marathon, then.' He thought sadly.

No one commented on it, and Percy was still passed out on the floor.

**Looking at the black water, I could think of about three million places I'd rather swim.**

"Comes with being my son," Poseidon said slowly, trying to break the tension from the room, yet internally he was smirking at Minerva's misery. The gods aren't kind, not at all.

**"So… I just jump in?"**

"Idiot," Reyna mumbled, yet her face held an expression of concern.

Of course, Jason thought angrily and grasped Piper's hand with force, making the daughter of Aphrodite flinch, but he only tightened his hold on her and ignored the heated glare that Piper's mother was senidng him.

**"You have to prepare yourself first," Nico said, "or the river will destroy you. It will burn away your body and soul."  
**  
**"Sounds fun," I muttered.  
**  
**"This is no joke," Nico warned. **

****"Well, aren't ya a party pooper?" Leo teased and nudged Nico on the shoulder. The son of Hades rolled his eyes. "Do you want to go and swim in the River and risk getting burnt away and not having a chance for your soul to go to Elysium?"

Leo put on a bad poker face. "You know what? I'm good."

"Thought so."

**"There is only one way to stay anchored to your mortal life. You have to…"  
**  
**He glanced behind me and his eyes widened. I turned and found myself face-to-face with a Greek warrior.  
**  
"Well, hello there, Greek warrior." Apollo mumbled as he examinded his hands and cracked his knuckles.

**For a second I thought he was Ares, because this guy looked exactly like the god of war-tall and buff, with a cruel scarred face and closely shaved black hair.**

"Gross," Katie mumbled. Clarisse glowered at her.

**He wore a white tunic and bronze armor. He held a plumed war helm under his arm. But his eyes were human-pale green like a shallow sea-and a bloody arrow stuck out of his left calf, just above the ankle.**

"Ugh, why didn't he remove it when he died?" Aphrodite asked, wrinkling her nose.

**I stunk at Greek names, but even I knew the greatest warrior of all time, who had died from a wounded heel.  
**  
**"Achilles," I said.  
**  
**The ghost nodded. "I warned the other one not to follow my path. Now I will warn you."  
**  
"The other one?" Jason asked.

"Luke, obviously." Piper said and pulled her hand away from the Roman's iron grip and rubbed the red finger marks that he had left behind. Jason didn't apologize.

**"Luke? You spoke with Luke?"  
**  
**"Do not do this," he said. "It will make you powerful. But it will also make you weak.** **Your prowess in combat will be beyond any mortal's, but your weaknesses, your failings will increase as well."  
**  
"Does that mean that his fatal flaw will be even bigger?" Connor asked, confused, as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"I'm not sure…" Nico said, trailing.

**"You mean I'll have a bad heel?" I said.** **"Couldn't I just, like, wear something besides sandals? No offense."  
**  
"Smart," Ares said sarcastically and even added an eyeroll at the end.

**He stared down at his bloody foot. "The heel is only my **_**physical **_**weakness, demigod. My mother, Thetis, held me there when she dipped me in the Styx. What really killed me was my own arrogance. Beware! Turn back!"  
**  
"He's not even arrogant, though, so he'll live." Reyna said confidently.

**He meant it. I could hear the regret and bitterness in his voice.** **He was honestly trying to save me from a terrible fate.  
**  
"Isn't that sweet?" Apollo said, laughing without a trace of humor in his voice. His grin was malicious and it was _scary. _He was always so carefree and always had a bright smile on his face, but now, his smile was dark and his blue eyes were hard and filled with madness. The rest of the Olympians and stared at him warily. The old Apollo, the one from Ancient Greece was back. This was not good.

**Then again, Luke had been here, and he hadn't turned back.**

"He shouldn't compare himself to that traitor," Poseidon spat angrily. Hermes and May wisely stayed quiet. They didn't want to cause any more tension and bright Poseidon's old attitude back, just like Apollo's. Poseidon was even worse and he was vengeful towards those who contradicted him.

_**That's **_**why Luke had been able to host the spirit of Kronos without his body disintegrating.** **This is how he'd prepared himself, and why he seemed impossible to kill. He had bathed in the River Styx and taken on the powers of the greatest mortal hero, Achilles.**

**He was invincible.**

"Not completely," Hades murmured.

**"I have to," I said. "Otherwise I don't stand a chance."  
**  
**Achilles lowered his head. "Let the gods witness I tried. Hero, if you must do this, concentrate on your mortal point.** **Imagine one spot of your body that will remain vulnerable. This is the point where your soul will anchor your body to the world.  
**  
Nico sighed and looked down at his lap. He remembered when Percy had bathed in the Styx. Percy might have not known it, but he had stayed in the river for about fifteen minutes. Just when Nico was going to walk away and was preparing himself for Annabeth's wrath, Percy had submerged from the River gasping for air frantically. He had never been so happy to see Percy again in his life.

**will be your greatest weakness, but also your only hope.** **No man may be completely invulnerable. Lose sight of what keeps you mortal, and the River Styx will burn you to ashes. You will cease to exist."**

"Happy thoughts." Leo spoke sarcastically but no one paid him any mind.

**"I don't suppose you could tell me Luke's mortal point?"  
**  
**He scowled. "Prepare yourself, foolish boy. Whether you survive this or not, you have sealed your doom!"**

"Wait, what?" All of the demigods asked sitting up straight. Zeus kept on reading.

**With that happy thought, he vanished.  
**

"Even when he's most likely about to die, he's still sarcastic." Apollo said laughing; it was still an empty laugh. "I like him, Poseidon."

The Sea God nodded and turned away from the God of the Sun. _Note to self: Keep Apollo away from my son. _Poseidon thought.

**"Percy," Nico said, "maybe he's right."  
**  
"Oh so _now _you're telling him not to?" Reyna asked in disbelief. Nico didn't respond. Will, Katie, Clarisse, Chris, and the Stolls looked at each other worriedly. Piper and Jason stared at the cover of the book blankly. Leo had taken out his iPhone and was taking it apart.

**"This was **_**your **_**idea."  
**

Reyna huffed and the rest of the demigods thanked Olympus that Annabeth wasn't present.

**"I know, but now that we're here-"  
**  
**"Just wait on the shore. If anything happens to me… Well, maybe Hades will get his wish, and you'll be the child of the prophecy after all."  
**  
Nico stared at his father and then turned away quickly. Demeter shot Hades a dirty look while everyone else shifted in their seats.

**He didn't look pleased about that, but I didn't care.**

"Yeah, he's mad." Connor said, stating the obvious.

**Before I could change my mind, I concentrated on  
**  
Everyone leaned in towards the book eager to know Percy's mortal spot.

Zeus frowned and squinted his eyes. He lifted the book and held it up by the air by the edge of the page and everyone stared at the page blinking. "This part is burnt away", The King of the Gods said slowly.

"Just carry on reading as much as you can of it…" Hestia said unsurely.

( **the small of my back-a tiny point just opposite my navel.** **It was well defended when I wore my armor. It would be hard to hit by accident, and few enemies would aim for it on purpose. ) **

***NOTE: Just pretend that part is burnt out ^ ***

**No place was perfect, but this seemed right to me, and a lot more dignified than, like, my armpit or something.  
**  
"Oh, the irony," Nico thought. Percy had told him about Luke's mortal point and he couldn't help but snort.

**I pictured a string, a bungee cord connecting me to the world from the small of my back. And I stepped into the river.  
**  
**Imagine jumping into a pit of boiling acid.  
**  
"Oh my gods," Katie said softly, covering her mouth.

**Now multiply that pain times fifty.** **You still won't be close to understanding what it felt like to swim in the Styx.  
**  
Poseidon's face showed pain for his son and even Hermes, Leo or the Stolls managed to make a sarcastic comment to lighten the mood.

**I planned to walk in slow and courageous like a real hero.** **As soon as the water touched my legs, my muscles turned to jelly and I fell face-first into the current.  
**  
The demigods winced.

**I submerged completely. For the first time in my life, I couldn't breathe underwater.**  
Poseidon ran a hand through his dark hair. It must have been horrible for his son; after living his whole life without the fear of drowning, there he was, in his brother's realm swimming for his life.

**I finally understood the panic of drowning.** **Every nerve in my body burned. I was dissolving in the water.  
**  
Percy stirred in his sleep and turned over to his other side and continued to sleep on the cold marble floor.

**I saw faces-Rachel, Grover, Tyson, my mother-but they faded as soon as they appeared.**  
**"Percy," my mom said. "I give you my blessing."  
**  
"How come he didn't see _us_?" Travis asked indignantly.

"Perhaps we are not as important to him as we thought," said Will with a huff.

Katie rolled her eyes. "Idiots. You guys weren't that close to him back then."

"…. Right." Connor said slowly.

**"Be safe, brother!" Tyson pleaded.  
**  
**"Enchiladas!" Grover said. I wasn't sure where that came from, but it didn't seem to help much.**

"Well then," Reyna muttered.

**I was losing the fight. The pain was too much. My hands and feet were melting into the water, my soul was being ripped from my body.  
**  
May closed her eyes and buried her head in her hands. If this was what the son of Poseidon was feeling, it must have been the same that her son had felt when he had swam in the river, too. _  
_  
**I couldn't remember who I was. The pain of Kronos's scythe had been nothing compared to this.**

Zeus looked shocked but continued to read.

_**The cord, **_**a familiar voice said. **_**Remember your lifeline, dummy!  
**_  
"Who said that?" Piper asked. Nobody answered her.

**Suddenly there was a tug in my lower back. The current pulled at me, but it wasn't carrying me away anymore. I imagined the string in my back keeping me tied to the shore.**  
**"Hold on, Seaweed Brain."**

Aphrodite fainted from the cute-ness. Welp.

**It was Annabeth's voice, much clearer now. "You're not getting away from me that easily."**

"Aw, isn't that adowable?" Chris teased a sleeping Percy, but since he couldn't hear him, he shut his mouth and sat back further into his seat.

**The cord strengthened.  
**  
**I could see Annabeth now-standing barefoot above me on the canoe lake pier.  
**  
**I'd fallen out of my canoe. That was it. She was reaching out her hand to haul me up, and she was trying not to laugh.  
**  
"Good thing Athena isn't here", murmured Poseidon. He didn't want to have his son vaporized, not that he'd allowed her too. She so much as try to touch his son, he would make sure her children, _all of them, _would be cursed for eternity and die as soon as they touched the water. Drinking water, shower water, salt water, clear water, lake water, you name it.

In his mind, he could hear Apollo's cackle and see the nod of encouragement. The two of them agreed on their hatred for the Wisdom Goddess.

**She wore her orange camp T-shirt and jeans. Her hair was tucked up in her Yankees cap, which was strange because that should have made her invisible.  
**  
**"You are such an idiot sometimes." She smiled. "Come on. Take my hand."  
**  
Reyna wore a poker face; she turned away from the book and started to play with her fingers.

**Memories came flooding back to me-sharper and more colorful. I stopped dissolving.  
**  
**My name was Percy Jackson.  
**  
"Nice to meet you, Percy Jackson", Apollo told the sleeping boy in a low voice that sent shivers up everyone's spine.

**I reached up and took Annabeth's hand.  
**  
**Suddenly I burst out of the river. I collapsed on the sand, and Nico scrambled back in surprise.  
**  
"You have no idea how relieved I was," Nico muttered.

**"Are you okay?" he stammered. "Your skin. Oh, gods. You're hurt!"  
**  
"Like you cared," Reyna muttered fiercely as she glared daggers at the son of Pluto – _Hades. _

**My arms were bright red. I felt like every inch of my body had been broiled over a slow flame.**

"Do you think that I would survive it?" Leo wondered out loud. Piper snorted and rolled her eyes.

"In your dreams, Repair Boy," she said jokingly. Leo, on the other hand, didn't catch the playful tone and looked away from her, a hurt expression on his face. Piper face palmed.

**I looked around for Annabeth, though I knew she wasn't here. It had seemed so real.  
**  
**"I'm fine… I think." The color of my skin turned back to normal.  
**  
"So now he can change his skin color?"

"Shut up, Stoll."

"Whatever, Katie."

**The pain subsided. Mrs. O'Leary came up and sniffed me with concern.** **Apparently I smelled really interesting.  
**  
"It would be amusing to me if she ate him," Hades said laughing loudly.

**"Do you feel stronger?" Nico asked.  
**  
**Before I could decide **_**what **_**I felt, a voice boomed, "THERE!"  
**  
Demeter glared as she mumbled: "So rude towards heroes."

**An army of the dead marched toward us. A hundred skeletal Roman legionnaires **

"Foreshadowing!" Sand Will.

"I don't think that it was intentional," Jason said.

The son of Apollo shrugged.  
**  
led the way with shields and spears.** **Behind them came an equal number of British redcoats with bayonets fixed.  
**  
**In the middle of the host, Hades himself rode a black-and-gold chariot pulled by nightmare horses, their eyes and manes smoldering with fire.  
**  
Apollo cackled loudly as he made popcorn appear in front of him. "This should be good."

"Usually it's Ares who gets excited over a fight…" Zeus said.

Ares and Apollo shrugged.

**"You will not escape me this time, Percy Jackson!" Hades bellowed.** **"Destroy him!"**

**"Father, no!" Nico shouted, but it was too late. The front line of Roman zombies lowered their spears and advanced.**  
Reyna pursed her lips tightly.

**Mrs. O'Leary growled and got ready to pounce. Maybe that's what set me off. I didn't want them hurting my dog. Plus, I was tired of Hades being a big bully.  
**  
"That's one of billions of ways to describe that scum," Demeter spat.

**If I was going to die, I might as well go down fighting.**

Reyna nodded approvingly. "Like a true Roman warrior."

**I yelled, and the River Styx exploded.  
**  
It was Poseidon's turn to cackle as he looked at his older brother and rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

**A black tidal wave smashed into the legionnaires. Spears and shields flew everywhere. Roman zombies began to dissolve, smoke coming off their bronze helmets.  
**  
**The redcoats lowered their bayonets, but I didn't wait for them. I charged.**  
**It was the stupidest thing I've ever done.  
**  
"So far," Connor said.

**A hundred muskets fired at me, point blank. All of them missed. I crashed into their line and started hacking with Riptide. Bayonets jabbed. Swords slashed.** **Guns reloaded and fired. Nothing touched me.  
**  
"I have to admit, I'm jealous." Jason murmured lowly, hoping that nobody would hear him, but the Stolls did.

**I whirled through the ranks, slashing redcoats to dust, one after the other. My mind went on autopilot: stab, dodge, cut, deflect, roll.  
**  
"Interesting," Ares said as he nodded in approval.

**Riptide was no longer a sword. It was an arc of pure destruction. I broke through the enemy line and leaped into the black chariot.  
**  
Demeter grinned widely. "Kick his immortal butt, Percy!" she cheered.

**Hades raised his staff. A bolt of dark energy shot toward me, but I deflected it off my blade and slammed into him. The god and I both tumbled out of the chariot.  
**  
**The next thing I knew, my knee was planted on Hades' chest. I was holding the collar of his royal robes in one fist, and the tip of my sword was poised right over his face.** **Silence.  
**  
"…." Hades was speechless.

"The kid has good fighting skills, I'll give him that." Ares declared.

**The army did nothing to defend their master. I glanced back and realized why. There was nothing left of them but weapons in the sand and piles of smoking, empty uniforms.**  
**I had destroyed them all.  
**  
Slowly, everyone scooted away from Percy's sleeping body, even some Olympians. Except Reyna.

**Hades swallowed. "Now, Jackson, listen here…"  
**  
**He was immortal. There was no way I could kill him, but gods can be wounded. I knew that firsthand, and I figured a sword in the face wouldn't feel too good.  
**  
"Do it," Hermes grinned.

**"Just because I'm a nice person," I snarled, "I'll let you go. But first, tell me about that trap!"  
**  
**Hades melted into nothing, leaving me holding empty black robes.  
**  
"Cooooward~" Zeus and Poseidon sang in their brother's ear.

**I cursed and got to my feet, breathing heavily.  
**  
**Now that the danger was over, I realized how tired I was.  
**  
**Every muscle in my body ached. I looked down at my clothes. They were slashed to pieces and full of bullet holes, but I was fine. Not a mark on me.  
**  
The males whistled in admiration.

**Nico's mouth hung open. "You just… with a sword… you just-"  
**  
**"I think the river thing worked," I said.  
**

**"Oh gee," he said sarcastically. **_**"You think?"  
**_  
**Mrs. O'Leary barked happily and wagged her tail. She bounded around, sniffing empty uniforms and hunting for bones. I lifted Hades' robe. I could still see the tormented faces shimmering in the fabric.  
**  
**I walked to the edge of the river. "Be free."  
**  
Hades grumbled angrily.

**I dropped the robe in the water and watched as it swirled away, dissolving in the current.**  
**"Go back to your father," I told Nico. "Tell him he owes me for letting him go. Find out what's going to happen to Mount Olympus and convince him to help."**

"That wasn't easy at all."

**Nico stared at me. "I… I can't. He'll hate me now. I mean… even more."**  
**"You have to," I said. "You owe me too."  
**  
**His ears turned red. "Percy, I told you I was sorry. Please… let me come with you. I want to fight."  
**  
"He won't trust you like before, boy." Reyna said.

**"You'll be more help down here."  
**  
**"You mean you don't trust me anymore," he said miserably.  
**  
**I didn't answer. I didn't know what I meant. I was too stunned by what I'd just done in battle to think clearly.  
**  
"It was awesome." The Stolls said together.

**Just go back to your father," I said, trying not to sound too harsh.** **"Work on him. You're the only person who might be able to get him to listen."  
**  
**"That's a depressing thought."** **Nico sighed. "All right. I'll do my best. Besides, he's still hiding something from me about my mom. Maybe I can find out what."  
**  
Nico glared at the floor.

**Good luck. Now Mrs. O'Leary and I have to go."  
**  
**"Where?" Nico said.  
**  
**I looked at the cave entrance and thought about the long climb back to the world of the living. "To get this war started. It's time I found Luke."**

"Chapter is over," announced Zeus and closed the book.


	13. Phoenix Awards

**Hey! Guess what?! Okay, so a couple of days ago, I checked my email and saw a new review on one of my one-shots, ****False Promises.**

******This is what it said: **

Hi there!

This story has been nominated for a Phoenix Award in the Best Oneshot category. The Phoenix Awards is an awards site geared toward the best in the Percy Jackson fandom on FanFiction . Net. Luckily for you, your story has been included in the twelve nominations available for this category. The voting period begins on February 10. We at Phoenix would be honored if you could let the world know that you've been nominated. :)

The person who nominated this fic gave the following reason for nominating:

"This story is short, but the author really digs into Alabaster's character, including his reasons for joining the Titans."

Feel free to check Phoenix out at fanmortals . weebly . com. Make someone's day. And congratulations.  
- Theia

**:D I want to thank whoever nominated me for it. Pleas go and vote for it. Again, it's called FALSE PROMISES and it's under the one- shot category. Voting starts on February 10th. THANK YOU. **

**ill try to update RLO next week. **


	14. Chapter 9 Preview AND Note

A/N: HEY, I'M BACK. CHECK MY UPDATING SCHEDULE ON MY PROFILE. KEEP NAGGING ME, GUYS. DON'T LET ME FORGET. OH, AND WE WON THE PHOENIX AWARDS FOR BEST ONE SHOT **"FALSE PROMISES".** THANKS TO ALL OF YOU WHO VOTES I HEART YOU. PART 1 OF 2 STARTING NOW. **MAKE SURE TO GO VOTE ON THE POLL IN MY PROFILE AFTERWARDS.**

* * *

**[NOTE; THIS IS JUST A PREVIEW BECAUSE I CAN'T UPDATE THESE UPCOMING DAYS / WEEKS BECAUSE I HAVE STAAR TESTING AND I WANT TO GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL THANK YOU] **

"**Two Snakes Save my Life.**" Poseidon read loudly while Zeus grumbled beside him. Truth is, Zeus had wanted to cease the reading for the day, but Poseidon would have nothing of it. So, needless to say, the two brothers had wrestled each other for the book. Poseidon had successfully snatched away the book from his brother, obviously. Athena and Artemis still weren't back, nor was Annabeth, and Percy was still passed out.

Great family reunion, huh?

**I love New York. You can pop out of the Underworld in Central Park, hail a taxi, head down Fifth Avenue with a giant hellhound loping along behind you, and nobody even looks at you funny.**

"I knew there was a reason that we moved to New York!" Hermes exclaimed cheerily, ignoring the threatening aura of his brother, Apollo, next to him. The Sun God gave a stiff nod, while his blue eyes held hatred as he glared at the gray throne of the wisdom goddess.

**Of course, the Mist helped. People probably couldn't see Mrs. O'Leary, or maybe they thought she was a large, loud, very friendly truck.**

The Stolls tried to make a funny remark, but they recoiled when they saw the glare of the Earth shaker, daring them to just interrupt him so that he could blast them with his trident. Connors guessed that Poseidon wasn't very happy that he and his brother had made Percy Jackson faint… or fall into a _very _macho sleep. Yes, macho! Nachos… damn it; the author wants some nachos right now… and that's saying something, since she just ate lunch at school.

The occupants of the room looked up at the ceiling, staring at it weirdly. "Who said that?"

"The boss of you", the author muttered. "Get back to reading!"

Poseidon didn't even object.

**I took the risk of using my mom's cell phone to call Annabeth for a second time.**

**I'd called her once from the tunnel but only reached her voice mail. I'd gotten surprisingly good reception, seeing as I was at the mythological center of the world and all, but I didn't want to see what my mom's roaming charges were going to be.**

"Why not just get unlimited? I mean, you only pay like thirty dollars for it… with my phone company, anyway." Hermes said, confused as he held up his phone. Everyone else shrugged.

**This time, Annabeth picked up.**

**"Hey," I said. "You get my message?"**

**"Percy, where have you been? Your message said almost nothing! We've been worried sick!"**\

"She was probably just worried that he was with Rachel again", Will whispered under his breath.

**"I'll fill you in later," I said, though how I was going to do that I had no idea.**

"Fill her with wh- " Travis shut his mouth with one glare from a certain daughter of Demeter.

**"Where are you?"**

**"We're on our way like you asked, almost to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel."**

**"But, Percy, what are you planning? We've left the camp virtually undefended, and there's no way the gods-"**

"You're supposed to have faith in us!"

The half-bloods looked away guiltily. "Even gods can make mistakes."

"Yeah, take us for example."

"Shut up, Will."

"Yes, sir."

**"Trust me," I said. "I'll see you there."**

**I hung up. My hands were trembling. I wasn't sure if it was a leftover reaction from my dip in the Styx, or anticipation of what I was about to do. **

"Hmmm…. I'm thinking both, most likely." Apollo finally said. Everyone turned to him with wary looks; they didn't want to anger him and bring back the old Apollo again. He used to be wrathful and heartless… they didn't want that, even the immortals.

"Thank Olympus that Artemis is not here", Hera thought to herself as she inched her throne away from Apollo's, even though he was far away from her reach. Always be safe, though, right?


End file.
